Cape Peninsula baboon restrictions get tougher

An action plan to minimise the amount of time baboons spend in human-dominated environments and prevent further habituation has been agreed to by authorities in the Western Cape.

Under the tough new rules, population control will be enforced. Welfare assessments will determine only healthy animals are retained, and any baboons that breach the new fences, apart from dispersing males, will be euthanised.

The approved troops will be handled with due care, including ensuring they have access to water in fenced areas and fire escape routes. Any cruelty towards them will be swiftly dealt with.

This has been agreed to by the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team, consisting of representatives from SANParks, CapeNature and the City of Cape Town.

A joint statement said the plan will be implemented “in the interest of establishing a healthy, well-managed, sustainable, free-ranging baboon population with minimal human interference, overlap and conflict and a reduction in day-to-day aversive measures.

“Baboons spending time in urban areas have poor outcomes in terms of health and welfare, and this results in habituation, changes in diet, feeding patterns and behavioural change, changes in troop dynamics, increased human and urban-induced injuries and deaths and greater risk of zoonotic diseases spreading.”

The interventions include capture and relocation of troops from the Seaforth and Waterfall areas to a newly established sanctuary on the peninsula by February and September, respectively.

The first trial enclosure of 1.5ha will be built on privately owned land on Plateau Road. The sanctuary will be assessed within six months, and if feasible, an environmental impact assessment will be undertaken for two more enclosures on the same land.

The baboons will undergo a veterinary health assessment, and healthy males will be vasectomised.

A fence line, to be complete by July, is intended to prevent baboons from accessing urban areas and farmland from Zwaanswyk in the south to Constantia Nek in the north. Rangers will patrol and maintain the fence line, and no baboons will be allowed north of the fence or over Constantia Nek.

The CT1 and CT2 troops will be captured once the northern fence has been installed up to Groot Constantia, with healthy animals to be released on the Table Mountain National Park side of the fence, south of Constantia Nek.

The plan states: “Regular incursions by troops or individual baboons into the urban area will no longer be accepted; authorities will keep baboons out through setting hard boundaries such as baboon-proof fences or rangers using aversion tools, or a combination of these. Infrequent access by troops, individual baboons and dispersing males will be considered tolerable and acceptable.”

The maximum sub-population number for the northern troops is set at 250 at any given time (currently estimated at 234) and 175 for the southern troops, excluding the deep Cape Point troops. The current population is 164.

“If the upper population limits are exceeded for longer than six months, animals will be humanely euthanised to achieve these outcomes. Animals targeted for euthanasia will include chronically sick, permanently injured and very old individuals as identified in the monthly troop counts.

“No new troops will be allowed to establish in transformed areas that will require a new team of rangers or fencing.”

To ensure their welfare, the entities have agreed to:

• the establishment of water points in any area on city-owned land where baboon-proof fences limit access to natural water sources;
• a formal application for underground power cables will be submitted to reduce the number of baboon electrocutions throughout southern subpopulation ranging areas. Greasing of electricity poles will continue in the interim to limit contact with powerlines and reduce electrocutions;
• new baboon fences will be built in such a way that, where possible, provision is made for movement of other wildlife through the fences, including panels that can be opened during wildfires, allowing for escape routes for baboons as well as other wildlife;
• baboon suffering, human-induced or natural, will be addressed immediately. A new response protocol has been agreed to between the Cape Baboon Partnership and the SPCA;
• health assessments are to be undertaken by veterinarians to determine the causes of any health issues that are reported or where health issues are suspected (for example, hair loss, significant weight loss, marked behavioural change); and
• roll-out of residential baboon-proof bins in high-impact areas by May.

“Baboons are a valuable and integral part of the natural ecology and biodiversity of the Cape Peninsula,” the entities said.

“The free-ranging [troops] are deserving of conservation and active wildlife management interventions to promote their health, welfare and sustainability.

“A zero-tolerance approach will be enforced against anyone found to be harming, feeding or habituating baboons.”

Two baboons were killed last week for food raids in the Kommetjie area.

The Cape Baboon Partnership shared on Facebook that an adult male and female were “humanely removed through lethal management intervention” on November 13.

Since July, they have been part of a breakaway subgroup from the Slangkop troop, persisting in the urban space despite multiple, sustained efforts to reintegrate them into their original troop. This included increased monitoring and the deployment of an additional dedicated ranger team for four months, as well as capture/relocation attempts.

“In October, this small group temporarily rejoined the main troop in the mountains above Ocean View, but within 24 hours [the two] had led them away again, directing them back toward the Kommetjie urban area.”

The group said with the pair no longer influencing the movement of the group, additional efforts to reintegrate the remaining baboons into the main troop are likely to be more successful, resulting in better welfare outcomes for them.

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