Perilous Times
S. Africa: Drunk baboons plague Cape Town's exclusive suburbs
The sun is setting over South Africa's oldest vineyard and the last of
the wine-tasting tourists are climbing onto their buses. But one large
family group has no intention of leaving – and there is little the
management can do about it.
By Jane Flanagan in Cape Town
Published: 7:00AM BST 29 Aug 2010
Cape Town's exclusive suburbs plagued by baboons
Each day, dozens of Cape Baboons gather to strip the ancient vines
Groot Constantia, in the heart of Cape Town's wine country, can deal
with inebriated holidaymakers – but it is invading baboons which have
developed a taste for its grapes that the wine makers are struggling
with.
Each day, dozens of Cape Baboons gather to strip the ancient vines –
the sauvignon blanc grapes are a particular favourite – before heading
into the mountains to sleep. A few, who sample fallen fruit that has
fermented in the sun, pass out and don't make it home.
"They are not just eating our grapes, they are raiding our kitchens and
ripping the thatch off the roofs. They are becoming increasingly bold
and destructive," said Jean Naude, general manager at the vineyard,
which is celebrating its 325th birthday this year. Guards banging
sticks and waving plastic snakes have been deployed with only limited
success, and not even a blast of a vuvuzela, the plastic horn made
famous at the World Cup, seems to frighten them.
It is not just the vineyards in South Africa which are under siege,
however, but also the exclusive neighbouring suburb of Constantia, home
to famous residents including Earl Spencer, Wilbur Smith and Nelson
Mandela.
Crisis meetings between animal welfare groups and traumatised locals
are struggling to find a workable solution.
"Where there's a mountain, there's a baboon," said Justin O'Riain of
the Baboon Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. "As we take up
more and more of their land, the conflict increases."
The baboons lived in the mountains of Cape Town long before humans took
up residence, but development has forced the unlikely neighbours into
increasingly closer contact.
Before laws afforded baboons a protected status a decade ago,
troublesome animals were regularly killed or maimed by home owners and
farmers. Now around 20 full-time "baboon monitors" are employed to
protect them and guide them away from residential areas. It has proved
mission impossible. Last week, a 12 year old boy was left traumatised
after confronting a troop who had broken into his family home.
Hearing noises from the kitchen, he went to investigate and found the
beasts ransacking cupboards. When the child fled upstairs to find his
babysitter, three males gave chase and surrounded him as he made a
tearful phone call to his mother, while the animals pelted him with
fruit.
"When he called me he was terrified. They had him surrounded," said the
Constantia housewife, who did not wish to be identified.
Chickens, geese, peacocks and even a Great Dane dog have been killed in
recent weeks by the marauding baboons - the males have huge and
terrifying canine teeth. Roof tiles, electric fences, orchards and
vegetables gardens have been trashed.
"Lunch parties in the garden are now just impossible," a homeowner
complained. "It is so unrelaxing. Rather than chatting over our meal,
we are looking over our shoulders and bolting the food as quickly as we
can before it is stolen. We can't even leave a window open in summer.
We are under siege."
In a concession to despairing residents, wildlife authorities have
begun collaring baboons identified as "troublesome" and imposed a
strict "three strikes" policy whereby animals which repeatedly break
into homes are humanely destroyed.
Fourteen year-old William, a large male known officially as GOB03, who
had terrorised the coastal suburb of Scarborough for as long as anyone
can remember, was the first to fall foul of this controversial rule.
His death last month was greeted with outrage and jubilation in equal
measure and dominated the letters pages of the local newspapers for
weeks.
Meanwhile, For Sale signs are sprouting up in suburbs with baboon
populations. Families which have lived in the same house for
generations are giving up, moving away to get away from their animal
tormentors.