SOS: Save Our Scott — the Cape Peninsula baboon

Scott is the latest young dispersing male baboon of Cape Town, a lad leaving his natal troop to go forth and find a new group of baboons to join; to start his own family unit — as simple as that, really.

The problem is that the Cape Peninsula baboons are a closed population, cut off from all other baboon troops by dense urbanisation and a rapidly growing human population, many of whom know little about baboons or wildlife.  

Despite some misunderstandings between the species, the vast majority of humans are actually quite thrilled to see a baboon — most residents are delighted by the unexpected arrival of a big boy and quite happy for him to move through their gardens on his way.  

So why is there so much hullabaloo about dispersing males on the Cape Peninsula, and why have so many baboons been killed for simply being dispersing males?

The problem sits squarely with the management of baboons and the protocols that have been designed to streamline the management process — one that is flawed for too many reasons to delve into in this short article. The underpinning problem is the adherence to outdated criteria which determine how baboons should be managed, but which pay little attention to how humans should be held accountable for their actions.

Baboons are baboons: opportunistic, clever, adaptable and survivors of extreme emotional typecasting, vitriol and abuse. It is difficult to think of another species that has been so appallingly treated by humans.   

We agree it is best for people and baboons alike that baboons do not spend time in urban areas, yet little to no effort is made to control waste management or adapt methods so that we can best achieve this commonly held goal. Instead, management has been driven by simplistic thinking that says “we need to hurt or scare baboons to keep them away from easy food rewards — the landscape of fear model”.   

That system has not worked in rural areas where farmers shoot baboons and it does not appear to be working in urban areas where baboons are shot at with paintball guns and subjected to loud noises from bear bangers. I say this because baboons continue to come into areas occupied by humans. 

Yet management persists and defends its decision-making, or lack thereof, and the result is that yet another baboon is killed.

One of the urgent changes that needs to be made to management is the concept of removing individual raiding baboons; the thinking that one baboon will influence a whole troop to adopt bad behaviour.

We need to understand and accept that the Cape Peninsula’s population of baboons, and indeed many others, have been living in close proximity to humans for years now, and all baboons now know that spaces occupied by humans equates to easy food rewards.  

All baboons, from the very youngest to the oldest, know there is a lot of good food to be found in our waste. All baboons know where the easiest sources of food can be found; it is astonishing to see how rapidly troops will move to spots where they can quickly secure easy “grab-and-go” grub — and equally astonishing how little humans have done to remove these attractants.  

At least 80 baboons have been removed but the attractants remain — and the troops keep coming down off the mountain to eat.

Back to Scott: how does all of this affect this young dispersing male?  Like most other males, leaving his natal troop is not a quick process; he will separate and return for an indeterminate period of time. When he finds a new troop there may be dominance fights with the current alpha, or there may be a relatively easy introduction into the new family groups — we can’t predict those outcomes.  

Scott has reportedly been chased by sjambok-wielding residents and pelted with stones. (Photo: Dawn Gianakouras Evered)