Sheree Bega

Johannesburg

Environment Reporter at Mail & Guardian

Environment reporter @mailandguardian [email protected]

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Articles

Wildlife surprise: Elusive forest shrew found in Western Cape

1 day ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

One of the Western Cape’s most mysterious mammals, the Boosmansbos long-tailed forest shrew, has made a reappearance 46 years after it was last recorded. Conservationists from CapeNature, Grootvadersbosch Conservancy and Helihack, together with volunteer biologists, were “ecstatic” at finding one of these tiny mammals on the edge of a pristine forest patch in CapeNature’s Boosmansbos Wilderness Area, CapeNature said.
Tiger Brands offers first settlement in deadly listeriosis outbreak case

2 days ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

South Africa’s largest food producer, Tiger Brands, has agreed to settle claims from certain groups in the listeriosis class-action lawsuit, seven years after the country experienced the world’s deadliest listeriosis outbreak.
Female & Guardian | SA’s loos not flushed with success

3 days ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

Every day, South Africa’s coastal cities discharge roughly 300 million litres of wastewater into the sea. For Teboho Mofokeng, a water engineering lecturer and PhD candidate at the University of Cape Town researching water management and reuse, this is a lost opportunity. She said that amount of water is enough to provide about 1.5 million to two million people with drinking water every day “and that is just from us flushing our toilets into the sea.
Mass vulture poisoning in Kruger triggers historic wildlife-rescue operation

5 days ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

At least 123 vultures have died in the Kruger National Park after ingesting the carcass of an elephant that poachers had laced with poison. A joint team of South African National Parks (SANParks) rangers and officials from the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) rescued 84 vultures in one of the most successful vulture rescues ever recorded. The incident marked one of the largest mass poisoning events ever witnessed in the Kruger.
Court case challenges SA’s approval of offshore drilling by TotalEnergies

1 week ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

A judicial review heard in the Western Cape high court this week has questioned the environmental authorisation process for TotalEnergies’ offshore oil and gas exploration rights between Cape Town and Cape Agulhas.
Covid and crackdowns slash ivory and pangolin scale trade

1 week ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

There has been a “remarkable and sustained disruption” in the trafficking of pangolin scales and ivory from Africa to Asia since the Covid-19 pandemic. A new report from the Hague-based Wildlife Justice Commission documents a sharp decline in significant seizures since 2020, pointing to a shift in the criminal landscape and the potential long-term impact of targeted law-enforcement efforts.
Phosphate mine proposal in national park sparks outrage

2 weeks ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

South African National Parks (SANParks) has shot down an “audacious” application by a phosphate mining company to mine inside the boundaries of the ecologically-sensitive West Coast National Park. Last September Kropz Elandsfontein, an emerging African phosphate producer majority-owned by billionaire business person Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital, wrote to SANParks to open negotiations for a proposed “land swop” for its Elandsfontein opencast phosphate mine.
Power lines, turbines fatal for vultures

2 weeks ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

In the past month alone Kerri Wolter and her team have responded to multiple vulture emergencies: birds with severe burns, broken wings and other injuries after they collided with power infrastructure. “These magnificent birds arrive barely clinging to life,” said the chief executive and founder of the vulture conservation organisation VulPro.
Professor Thabo Masihlelo convicted for prolonged starvation of captive lions

2 weeks ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

Professor Thabo Masihlelo has been convicted of animal cruelty for starving his captive lions and sentenced to a R5 000 fine or 10 months’ imprisonment, half of which is suspended for five years on condition that he does not reoffend. In 2023, the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) wildlife protection unit conducted an inspection at Tweeling, the Free State farm of Masihlelo.
Court rules against former environment minister over toxic air crisis

3 weeks ago | mg.co.za | Sheree Bega

The supreme court of appeal (SCA) has rebuked the former minister of forestry, fisheries and the environment, Barbara Creecy, for her delay in publishing regulations to address dangerously high levels of air pollution on the Mpumalanga Highveld. Earlier this month, the country’s highest appellate court handed down judgment dismissing, with costs, Creecy’s appeal of a portion of the March 2022 landmark Deadly Air high court judgment.