It is a battle that has been going on for years: How should the baboon problem be dealt with in the Overstrand?
One reader asked advice on Facebook about the baboon problem in Hermanus Heights. “We had a baboon trash our kitchen. Easy entry because of our own carelessness,” she wrote. “The big guy, with the collar, he decide to come back to our house. He stole food out of the fridge and opened cupboards.”
The baboon problem in the Overberg particularly affects residents of Kleinmond, Betty’s Bay and Pringle Bay. A new male baboon has now also been spotted in Betty’s Bay.
The Betty’s Bay Baboon Action Group reported that they have been observing the movements of another new male baboon in Betty’s Bay. “We found him again on a roof,” they stated in a Facebook post. “He came to us along the coast and still hugs the lowland areas. He does not go into the mountains. He has been sleeping in town.”
They said this behaviour occurred only in baboons who were being “managed” through aggression. “He is frightened and unsure and is opening rubbish bins and black plastic rubbish bags.”
They are still uncertain if he came from the Silversands, Pringle Bay or Hangklip troops. “We are still working on finding out. What we do know is that it is once again a knock-on effect from the Overstrand Municipality, in their full-on aggression to the Pringle Bay troop (pushing them way into Brodie Link, eastwards behind Blesberg and the Silversands troop). Everything is connected. It is the dire Human Wildlife Solutions (HWS) tactics all over again.”
They claimed the Overstrand baboon manager is an ex-HWS ranger. In 2021 some residents and conservation groups called for the contract of HWS to be terminated.
The action group made it clear the Betty’s Bay community had been working hard on living in overlap with baboons. “The shooting never kept the baboons away but seriously divided the community. The Betty’s Bay Baboon Action Group is out every day and has never stopped working on bins, baboon-proofing options and education as well as observing our troops.
“There are far more people out there that don’t want to go back to cruel treatment of animals, are prepared to take the few necessary steps to live in acceptance of wildlife and who feel privileged to call Betty’s Bay home.”
They emphasised that all the baboon troops in the three Kogelberg villages (Betty’s Bay, Pringle Bay and Kleinmond) had been living in close proximity to each other and even in some overlap (spatial but not temporal) for many years.
“There was a very definite status quo,” the group pointed out. “They did not ‘just appear’ in neighbouring villages until they had a reason to flee from their own. Betty’s Bay, like Rooi-Els, believe in pro-active solutions and should not have to deal with Pringle Bay baboon conflict refugees. It will only get worse for us if the ‘warfare on baboons’ continues in Pringle Bay.”
Meanwhile the Overstrand Municipality asked Kleinmond residents to secure their bins.
“The Betty’s Bay baboon troop will soon make their annual move to Kleinmond, typically in early August,” the Municipal Manager, Dean O’Neill, said. “Baboons are known to be attracted to household waste.”
He said in areas affected by baboons, residents are required to secure all waste and black bags in “lockable” bins to prevent baboons from accessing it.
“In response to the challenge of baboons raiding for food in affected areas, Overstrand Municipality conducted a waste audit in Kleinmond on 23 July to assess existing municipal bins.”
What to do?. Secure your bin with a latch, strap, padlock or clip at all times;. Do not leave refuse (black) bags on pavements or on top or outside bins in baboon-affected areas; . Only place refuse bags out by 07:00 am on the day of collection;. Never leave any food or seeds on display that might attract baboons onto the property, including uncaged planted fruit trees, vegetable gardens and compost heaps. Remove all fruit from accessible trees.
