Police are investigating the shooting of a baboon in Betty’s Bay. No arrests have been made yet and the investigation continues.
Kleinmond police registered a cas of killing an animal in contravention of a prohibition in terms of a notice published in the Government Gazette, Section 2(3).
The incident was reported on 19 September after a monitor found a baboon lying in Bass Road. According to the police report the monitor identified a blood trail near the animal.
The monitor told police he had been walking with the baboons when he came across the animal. He said he did not hear any gunshots nor see anyone shooting at the baboons.
The baboon, named Thunder, according to residents is the alpha male well-known to residents. Residents of Betty’s Bay were hot under the collar about this incident. One Facebook post said: “Thunder, an adult male Chacma baboon was shot yesterday by a local resident. It took more than 20 minutes for him to die from the gunshot wound to the abdomen. It sickens me that individuals think they are above the law and discharge firearms in residential areas with the sole purpose of injuring and ultimately killing baboons.”
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The Pringle Bay Conservation Group is also outraged by this killing. “We would question if there is a conspiracy or group of shooters working together in the Kogelberg Villages,” it declared on Facebook. “We have been told of a group of individuals meeting to plot assassinations of baboons, but have been unable to get solid proof. We call on the police, Law Enforcement and Overstrand Municipality to investigate fully. Stop ignoring this criminality. What will you do when these brutal people start on human primates? What are our ratepayers associations doing about this?”
Police have not arrested anyone in connection with the incident. Circumstances around the shooting are currently unkown and remain under invstigation. Further information may emerge as police work to establish the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
