50|50 Episode 16 Season 7: 2 June 2016

South Africa’s White Gold: Abalone

For this year’s World Ocean’s Day, we bring you a special feature on the world of South African Abalone – both the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s hard to believe that a type of sea snail can generate so many news headlines, or generate such enormous amounts of money. Unfortunately, the abalone poaching situation in SA is an ongoing problem, with crime syndicates perpetrating terrible environmental crimes in their efforts to smuggle abalone out of the country.However, like any long, dark tunnel, there is always a light at the end of it and in our two-part Ocean’s Day special, we remind ourselves that a little ingenuity can go a long way to alleviate the threats facing these unique creatures.

Doodsbenoud: Night adder bite

The night adder is not a snake often encountered, but the cytotoxins from its bite can result in severe swelling and tissue damage. So when the victim of a night adder bite turns out to be a small eight year old girl, and medical help is not on hand, what is a family to do? Mecyla Wolfaardt is now a little older than 8 but she remembers her ill-fated trip to Kruger well and shares her story with us on Doodsbenoud.

VeldFokus:

There is plenty of cheeky action in VF tonight, a lioness tries a spot of shop-lifting; one of SA’s most beautiful birds has its wings full when it comes to chick rearing, while a rare serval shows us just how fast it can be!