30 years in wildlife conservation, 'response&rehabilitation', wildlife welfare, trade & trafficking, training, consultation & special projects.
South Africa
Joined November 2010
- Tweets24.2K
- Following1.6K
- Followers2.9K
- Likes82.2K
Karen Trendler retweeted
A Russian tourist has been shot dead and his wife injured during an attack on the N4 freeway outside Pretoria.
The attack took place last week. The couple
were travelling to Kruger National Park for a holiday.
The husband stopped to change a damaged tyre when unknown suspects attacked the couple and robbed them of their belongings.
Karen Trendler retweeted
Can anybody please tell me what happened to the Kempton park case? All those women were murdered and we’ve just carried on with our lives like nothing happened?
Karen Trendler retweeted
ALLEGATIONS OF EXTORTION INVOLVING SAPS MEMBERS AT OR TAMBO AIRPORT
Increasing complaints are emerging about SAPS members based at OR Tambo International Airport stopping and searching people after they have cleared customs within the airport precinct.
Even more concerning are allegations that some officers are demanding money from people.
These allegations are extremely serious and must be urgently investigated.
OR Tambo is South Africa’s main international gateway. It cannot become a place where travellers, visitors or members of the public feel intimidated, harassed or forced to pay bribes.
This nonsense must stop!
SAPS management must investigate, identify those responsible and take decisive action against any members found to be involved in extortion or abuse of power.
There must be zero tolerance for corruption within the ranks of the police.
@SAPoliceService @Airports_ZA @ortambo_int
Karen Trendler retweeted
The @environmentza Green Scorpions have secured a speedy conviction of the suspect arrested attempting to smuggle 50 protected parrot species eggs in August this year!
Read more here:
dffe.gov.za/mediareleases/gr…
Karen Trendler retweeted
#SouthAfrica Police clamp down on wildlife crime: 4 arrested & 2 #pangolins rescued
in Rustenburg, NW province during Intel op. Well done @SAPoliceService for saving these 2 endangered pangolins from the illegal wildlife trade👏👏saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeec… share.google/QlLSANjhh6pIB27…
Karen Trendler retweeted
If you want change, find the guy with principles, not the guy who makes promises.
Zohran is not known as an animal activist and barely said anything about horse carriages during his campaign. But he is known for sticking to principles, even when it costs him something. He promised quietly to protect horse carriages. And, unlike prior mayors and politicians who made loud commitments, Zohran delivered.
There is a lesson here for animal advocates, and others seeking enduring change. Don't seek the cheap talk. Find the people with integrity who can stand behind a principle. Zohran made a promise. He kept it. It's that sort of person who is going to help us make change.
Bravo to @NYCMayor for standing by his campaign promise to ban horse carriages in our future-focused NYC!
New Yorkers are grateful for your compassion towards the horses and pledge to provide a fair, tangible transition for carriage owners and workers.
We look forward to the fulfillment of this cherished goal, and celebrate your honorable and humane commitment!
Karen Trendler retweeted
Environmental Crime Breakthrough
📍 Vienna, Austria | 19-23 October 2026
South Africa has welcomed the historic adoption of a resolution at the Thirteenth Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP13) to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), held in Vienna, Austria. Co-sponsored by South Africa and adopted with 87.37% of votes cast in favour, the resolution establishes a process to elaborate an additional Protocol to UNTOC to address illicit trafficking in wildlife and timber, illegal mining and illicit trafficking in minerals and precious metals, and illicit trafficking in waste.
The achievement reflects a coordinated South African effort involving the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and the South African Police Service (SAPS), and marks an important step forward in strengthening the global response to transnational environmental crime.
🌍Protecting biodiversity. Combating organised crime. Advancing international cooperation.
#EnvironmentalCrime #WildlifeCrime #UNTOC #COP13 #Biodiversity #SouthAfrica #EnvironmentalJustice
@DIRCO_ZA @NPA_Prosecutes @SAPoliceService @UNODC @INTERPOL_HQ @G20org
Karen Trendler retweeted
This virus will compound the impact of poisonings that have caused vulture populations to collapse. These bird’s impact are vital to the health of our environment through their consumption of carrion. Cc @NatGeo @UNBiodiversity @IPBES @TheWCS @WCSWildAudio
As carrion feeders, vultures are on the frontlines of the H5N1 panzootic (animal pandemic). They're not just at risk of contracting the virus from their meals, but from the other vultures who gather around carcasses. Sharp upticks in infections could cause precarious populations to collapse. nautil.us/vultures-help-elim…
Karen Trendler retweeted
THREE LIFE SENTENCES FOR MAN CONVICTED OF 119 CHILD SEXUAL OFFENCES
-WELKOM, FREE STATE
The NPA has welcomed the sentencing of 37-year-old Christiaan Francisco Fortleza van der Linde, who received three life imprisonment sentences after pleading guilty to 119 charges involving the sexual abuse and exploitation of three minor children.
The offences occurred between 2015 and 2024 and included rape, sexual assault, grooming, child trafficking, kidnapping, attempted murder and the creation, possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.
The accused exploited positions of trust to groom and repeatedly abuse his victims, aged between 11 and 17.
He also created and distributed sexually explicit material involving children.
In one particularly disturbing incident, he kidnapped and trafficked a second victim and attempted to murder the child in an attempted murder-suicide.
The Welkom Regional Court imposed:
Three life sentences for two counts of rape and trafficking in persons.
Additional prison terms for attempted murder, sexual exploitation, grooming and other offences.
Entry into the National Register for Sex Offenders.
He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm, prohibited from working with children and barred from possessing or using electronic devices while serving his sentence.
The court rejected the defence’s request to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentences, agreeing with the State that the crimes formed part of a calculated and sustained pattern of abuse.
The NPA highlighted the devastating psychological impact on the victims, with two reportedly becoming suicidal as a result of the abuse.
The NPA says the sentence demonstrates its commitment to protecting children and ensuring that those who exploit and abuse vulnerable minors face the full consequences of the law.
@NPA_Prosecutes
Karen Trendler retweeted
JUST IN | Mugabe’s son arrested in Harare, this time over vehicles ‘smuggled’ across SA border
brnw.ch/21x6TBp
Karen Trendler retweeted
Stay in the Queue! The consequence of your vote lasts five years, and its well worth the wait!
Karen Trendler retweeted
Just got to the front of the queue… to make it quicker (for scanning), WhatsApp your ID number to 0600880000 to get your sequence number. It will help move things along. Also sends you all your voting info.
Oh, and remember your IDs friends. 🗳️
#2026LGE
Karen Trendler retweeted
It’s hard to face how terribly we treat nearly all the animals we raise for food while thinking of ourselves as compassionate people.
The cognitive dissonance is just enormous, so we look away, or turn their suffering into a joke to make ourselves more comfortable.
Karen Trendler retweeted
Les and Natasha are friends of mine. Les spent his life in nature. A renowned wildlife guide and anti-poaching expert. Natasha is a beautiful, warm lady with a gentle character. They lived a quiet but active life in a place they loved. This is local terrorism. God be with them.
ANOTHER brutal farm attack and torture in South Africa:
An elderly couple were burned with boiling water and beaten as attackers tried to cut off wife’s nipples with bolt cutters.
Only psychopaths consider this "just normal crime".
citizen.co.za/rekord/news-he…
Karen Trendler retweeted
Two Mozambican nationals have been arrested for alleged rhino poaching at Lawrence De Lange Game Reserve in Komani, Eastern Cape, where a mother rhino and calf were shot dead with horns removed, while a third suspect remains on the run.
Read on tinyurl.com/2hxer29r
#RhinoPoaching #EasternCapeArrests #KomaniPoachersCaught
Karen Trendler retweeted
My middle class husband working at a large multinational gets the day off to go vote down the road.He’ll drive 2 minutes
But @WOOLWORTHS_SA is open tomorrow! So there’s no public voting holiday for the working class who use multiple taxis and work long hours??
Where’s the attempt to even act like this is an actual democracy @PresidencyZA ?? @IECSouthAfrica ??
Karen Trendler retweeted
I just came to say we only know what happened to the learjet because the female co pilot kept her shit together long enough to tell air traffic control.
Karen Trendler retweeted
Brutal farm attack: Elderly couple burned, beaten as attackers tried to cut off wife’s nipples with bolt cutters
m.facebook.com/story.php?sto…
