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With 39 species, SA ranks third in the world for cycad diversity
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March 17, 2006, 19:00
Thirteen people, including a member of the Lowveld police, have been arrested in Mpumalanga for the illegal possession of, and dealing in, endangered cycads.
Jimmy Masombuka,a spokesperson for the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency, says the arrests were made at an informal settlement near the Strydom Tunnel. They follow months of investigations.
Cycads are over 200 million years old
Six of the thirteen suspects have been granted bail. The remainder have been denied bail as they have previous convictions. Masombuka says people must have legal permits to transport or be in the possession of cycads.
Masombuka said: “We would like to pronounce that clearly and loudly, that people who are illegally found in the possession of cycads, they will face the law. Other than that the communication betweeen the members of the police and our agency show that it will enable to combat or to stop all this illegal harvesting of the endangered species in the province."
Cycads are known to have lived in the Permian era, over 200 million years ago - even before the dinosaurs roamed the earth. Although once abundant across the globe, the cycads are now greatly reduced in both numbers and distribution. There are now about 250 species in 11 genera, compared to possibly 300 000 species of flowering plants, the group that now dominates the world vegetation. All cycads are tropical or subtropical and each genus has a restricted geographical range.
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