Facing the baboon crisis

Diane Salters, Simon's Town 

In response to the article (“Cape Peninsula conservationists criticise proposed removal of baboons,” Echo).

Senior and highly qualified conservationists who have been studying our baboon troops over many years have actively informed the Joint Task Team’s decision to remove these four splinter troops.

The JTT are currently consulting a range of conservationists about the best way to proceed with these removals, which are simply the start of a wider programme to maintain a long-term healthy baboon population on the peninsula, separated from human settlements.

Our baboons, particularly these splinter troops, are no longer truly wild. They have become so habituated to human food and undeterred by the presence of humans that their well-being is at risk if nothing is done.

Some of us, who also regard ourselves as conservationists, are pleased to see that the relevant authorities are at last taking their management responsibilities seriously.

While it is deeply regrettable – and I am personally very sad – that the situation was allowed to get to the point where decisions about removal or culling have become necessary, my hope is that, if the other parts of the recommended programme are followed, the remaining baboons can be offered a fresh and better start.

We humans have created this problem, so we need to take responsibility for solving it. This will involve hard decisions in the short term and certainly require committed efforts in the long term to ensure that the remaining baboons are kept separate from humans and not allowed to become habituated to the same degree.

They need to be given the best opportunity to lead a healthier life, in numbers that the mountain can support, outside of the urban areas and away from the attendant risks of contact with human food, cars, viruses, cruelty and a type of “kindness” which may prove unkind in the long run.

If you support the JTT’s decision to reduce the current baboon population to allow for better management of the remaining troops, I encourage you to write to: cpbmjtt@capenature.co.za