Missing baboon found dead after drowning

The search for Pip, the juvenile baboon from Welcome Glen, has ended in tragedy. 

Sarah Waries, CEO of Shark Spotters, confirmed that Pip drowned after falling into a swimming pool covered with a bubble wrap pool cover and was discovered on Monday February 3. 

Pip, one of the last remaining members of a small, unmonitored baboon group known as "The Creamies", had been missing for several days, prompting an extensive community search effort. 

Residents, led by the Cape Peninsula Civil Conservation (CPCC) chairperson Lynda Silk and board member Sandie MacDonald, scoured the area, hoping to find her alive. Their fears were realised when her body was discovered in a swimming pool.

Belinda Abraham, spokesperson for the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, said Pip’s remains were brought to the SPCA, where an X-Ray was performed to check for blunt force trauma, pellets, or broken bones.

"None of these were apparent," she said. "However, given the amount of fluid in her lungs, we believe the cause of death to be drowning."

Residents are urged to know the risks posed by bubble wrap pool covers.

“These covers are not fixed to the pool’s edges, making it easy for an animal to fall or jump onto the cover, then slip through the gaps or under the edges, trapping them underneath. Additionally, if the pool’s water level is low, it becomes even harder for an animal to escape."

Ms Silk said floating escape ramps can also be useful in full swimming pools to assist wildlife like frogs and snakes.

“People should also pay attention to baboon vocalisations, as continuous barking can signal distress or danger, warranting a check or a call to the Baboon Hotline,” she said. 

Many had witnessed the heartbreaking sight of Pip’s mother calling for her missing juvenile. “How can any human watch and hear the mother calling for her juvenile and not feel any kind of remorse or empathy?” said resident Laurette Gliddon.

“May there be peace,” the CPCC said in a statement. “May there be peace for Pip, and may there be peace for all baboons and other wild things in our Peninsula. May we humans learn to coexist more peacefully with each other and with other species. We are all only here for such a short while.”