Avoid Sealing a Rabid Fate

Photo Keith Luke / Unsplash

In recent months there has been a noticeable increase in reports of rabid seals along our coasts. More specifically, a few weeks ago an ailing seal was observed on the rocks in close proximity to the Kom surf spot The Ledge.

Thanks to some quick action by local residents and authorities, the animal was removed. It died soon thereafter and an autopsy showed that it was infected with rabies.   

Who are the Rabid Response individuals or organisations we need to contact when we encounter a seal showing signs of rabies to have the potentially dangerous animal removed?

In Kommetjie we are fortunate enough to have our own wildlife specialist Brett Glasby who deals with a wide range of wildlife issues such as snake removal and bird rehab.

Brett Glasby tel (+27) 076722 1930

Alternatively you can contact any of the following: 

The SPCA tel 021-7004140

Gregg Oelofse at the City of Cape Town. tel (+27) 083940 8143 

Tracy at Hout Bay Seal Rescue tel (+27) 0823344247

How do we know if a seal is infected with Rabies?

Rabid seals usually head for shore. They shake their heads vigorously from side to side and attack anything in site even inanimate objects like rocks. They lose their flight instinct and know only the fight instinct.

What should we do as responsible residents when a seal is behaving badly?

Keep all children and dogs well away from seals or seal carcasses. Contact any of the above authorities and if possible send a picture, video and pin location of the seal. If you get bitten see a doctor immediately.

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If you would like to assist in these and the many other projects undertaken by the KRRA volunteers, please consider a monthly or one-off EFT payment at details below, or via Snapscan here 

Include your name and the code for the volunteer KRRA work you wish to support from here

General 1, Parks and Open Spaces 2, Alien clearing 3, Beach Cleanup 4, Waterways Maintenance 5, Indigenous Planting 6, Walkways Maintenance 7, Traffic & Roads 8, Social Fabric 9, Development & Infrastructure 10, Media & Communications 11, Local Enterprise 12, Resilience 13 

KRRA

Standard BankFish Hoek (036009)

Account number 374221065

Why?

The KRRA has existed for eight decades and is run by volunteers who work on issues from spatial planning, road safety, social fabric, resilience (disaster mitigation), and environmental integrity such as alien clearing, indigenous planting, beach cleanups, and the restoration of our rivers and wetlands. We get walkways fixed and look at better access. We monitor building and development, and put together alerts and updates via newsletter and social media. We deal with issues that benefit you.We would ask for some reciprocation financially (as well as ideas or volunteers) to enable the above work, which sometimes includes serious issues with legal fees attached. If every Kommetjie household donated just R50 a month (less than R2 per day), the KRRA would have a healthy enough budget to tackle almost anything thrown our way.

Contact Patrick Dowling on 084 966-1249 for additional information.

We follow legal procedure with monthly agendas and an AGM where a treasurer’s report is presented and we report back to the community.

We encourage Kom residents to attend the next AGM. You will be notified via email, social media and a banner as you enter Kom. 

Be the difference.