TOUR operators and tour guides beware! That tourist asking so many questions about the localities of certain plants and animals may actually be a biodiversity criminal!
  Biodiversity crime encompasses anything from poaching, illegally dealing in animal skins, to illegally collecting and smuggling insects, animals and plants, explains Paul Gildenhuys, programme manager for biodiversity crime management at Cape Nature. He says biodiversity crime has seriously negative consequences for the tourism industry because it destroys the unique environment, which attracts tourists in the first place. 
 
Gildenhuys says biodiversity criminals come to South Africa as tourists, but their actual aim is to collect plants and animals for financial gain. The unique Cape floral kingdom is a particularly huge magnet for international plant and animal smugglers. They come disguised as scientists, researchers and members of the pet trade and often operate in syndicates. “They come well-prepared with GPSs and maps and often use tour guides or tour operators to locate plants and then come back months later to steal them. Often they dump their loot and collect it later or send it by post, so they have nothing on them when searched,” Gildenhuys explains.
 
Recent cases recorded by Cape Nature include 232 rare beetles collected by criminals during day hikes in Cape nature reserves; a Czech syndicate that collected 96 tortoises; and a Japanese gang that tried to smuggle small lizards out of the country by strapping them in packaging to their bodies and hiding them under their clothing. Cape Nature has also arrested several foreign botanists who have illegally collected rare plants, such as the Japanese man who had collected 532 aloes, all valuable trophy specimens; and the Japanese “tourist” who collected succulents on a Hilton Ross flower tour.
 
Gildenhuys asks everyone in the travel industry to be alert, “especially if tourists are posting packages home every second day or if they have lots of bags”. He also asks the industry to help spread the conservation message that licenses are needed to collect any fauna and flora.
 
Suspected biodiversity criminals can be reported to Paul Gildenhuys (082) 551-8512 and Carl Brown (082) 784-8718, both of Cape Nature (www.capenature.co.za) or to your nearest police station.