South Africa: mischievous baboons invade Cape Town

Three young baboons burst into the enchanting calm of this sunny coastal village on the Cape Peninsula, at the southern tip of Africa: they climb the roofs, jump between the houses, swing on the gutters. Delighted tourists stop to take photos of the troop from the road. The residents of Simon’s Town are less impressed by this everyday scene between the Atlantic Ocean and Table Mountain.

Some 500 baboons of the chacma species, whose habitat has gradually been reduced, are increasingly intruding into inhabited areas to find food. They are among the largest monkeys, weighing up to 40 kilos. Mostly harmless, they eat from fruit trees in gardens, but also invite themselves to barbecues, sometimes taking advantage of the swimming pool, or rummaging through trash cans. They can be terribly destructive when they manage to sneak into a house.

The monkeys, whose behaviors are sometimes so similar to humans, have their fans, who give them affectionate nicknames and relate their adventures on social networks. Others, exasperated, are less tender. “They became so bold. And much more domesticated than they should be,” underlines Duncan Low, 60, who runs an ice cream shop.

Baboons even show up in restaurant kitchens, helping themselves to plates. “They became obsessed with sugar and fast food,” says Duncan Low. Tension between humans and baboons has never been higher, according to ecologist Justin O’Riain, who heads the African Wildlife Institute at the University of Cape Town.

The City of Cape Town, along with the National Parks, has had a monkey monitoring program in place for a long time. Certain techniques of these patrollers, such as shooting paintball to keep groups away or the killing of a particularly problematic animal, have been criticized, in particular because they “criminalize” them.

A dominant male, a repeat burglar who became a local celebrity, was killed in 2021 after recruiting a team and terrorizing a hamlet on the peninsula, attacking the inside of houses, empty or even in front of their stunned inhabitants, more than 40 times in five months.

In an increasingly tense context, the Baboon Matters association filed a complaint in May against the authorities, believing that they had failed to put in place alternative measures, such as the installation of fences and complicated-to-open trash cans. for primates. The city said its surveillance program would continue at least through the holidays, but with fewer officers, while it considers “more sustainable urban solutions.”

“We are going to lose our first line of defense,” regrets Justin O’Riain. Because despite patrols, 33 baboons were killed between July 2023 and last June, the highest number in a decade, notably by pellet gun fire, collisions with cars or dog attacks. Coexisting with baboons requires “a certain effort” on the part of residents, starting with managing food waste, said Lyndi Silk, a local environmental activist. “We must be able to manage our lifestyles to minimize negative impacts.”

For Justin O’Riain, the only viable solution is to erect fences in certain areas made of electrical cables and underground mesh to prevent animals from digging underneath. A prototype tested around ten years ago attests to its effectiveness. “The baboons can come up to the edge of the fence to feed and no one will disturb them,” he says. “It’s a completely peaceful, win-win interaction for people and monkeys.”