Latest news with #Chacma
IOL News
15-07-2025
- IOL News
Animal welfare groups demand justice for Chacma baboon slaughter in Cape Town
A video of a Chacma baboon slaughtered in Ocean View has been shared on social media. Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers A R5,000 reward has been offered for any information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of individuals involved in the brutal killing of an adult Chacma baboon, which was allegedly butchered for human consumption in Ocean View. Disturbing footage of the incident has surfaced on social media, showing the horrific slaughter of the protected species. The video, which began circulating on Monday, was brought to the attention of both the Animal Welfare Society of South Africa (AWS SA) and the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, sparking urgent investigations by both animal welfare organisations. 'This horrific act is not only inhumane but also illegal,' said AWS SA spokesperson Alan Perrins. 'Chacma baboons are a vulnerable and protected species in South Africa. These intelligent, sentient beings are already under immense pressure from habitat loss, urban encroachment, and human-wildlife conflict. Now, they face yet another threat: barbaric killings for bushmeat.' Perrins confirmed that AWS SA had immediately alerted CapeNature and its counterparts at the SPCA, with early indications pointing to members of the Ocean View community. 'We are combining resources to ensure the swift identification and prosecution of those responsible. Killing or consuming protected wildlife is a criminal offence, and we will pursue this case with the full weight of the law.' Cape of Good Hope SPCA spokesperson Belinda Abraham confirmed that wildlife inspectors visited Ocean View on Monday as part of a joint operation with the City of Cape Town's Law Enforcement and Safety and Security Investigation Unit (SSIU). 'Our team immediately jumped into action after receiving the footage,' Abraham said. 'We are working closely with the relevant authorities, and our investigation is ongoing. The video is graphic and distressing, and we are determined to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.' The SPCA is offering a R5,000 reward for any information that leads to a successful conviction. Their 24/7 Inspectorate Control Room can be contacted at 021 700 4158 or via confidential WhatsApp at 021 700 4140. AWS SA Senior Inspector Sivuyile Kilwa can also be reached at 021 692 2626, 082 601 1761, or via email at ([email protected])(mailto:[email protected]). Animal rights advocacy group Baboon Matters added its voice to the call for justice, condemning the killing in the strongest terms. 'We were utterly appalled at the reprehensible killing of a baboon as detailed in the CGHSPCA post,' said Baboon Matters founder Jenni Trethowan. 'We call on residents who may have witnessed the awful event to please come forward with information – these killers must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Now is the time for the authorities to act cohesively and decisively.' Authorities have urged the public not to share the video due to its graphic content, and instead to report it directly to enforcement officials as part of the ongoing investigation. 'Let us stand together and say NO to cruelty. NO to wildlife crimes. YES to justice,' said Perrins. [email protected]
Daily Maverick
21-06-2025
- General
- Daily Maverick
Refusing to die — reframing the Cape Peninsula Chacma baboon crisis through the return of suppressed ecologies
In May 2022, the City of Cape Town (COCT) launched the Living Alongside Wildlife Charter (WildCT), a progressive initiative promising to protect urban wildlife and reduce 'human-wildlife conflict'. The charter emphasised prevention, education, enforcement of bylaws, improved waste management, traffic calming and a holistic, non-lethal approach to managing biodiversity. It is committed to wildlife-friendly urban management and planning, law enforcement coordination and public awareness campaigns, principles echoed in the Baboon Strategic Management Plan 2023/24-2033/34. Two years on, promises of meaningful, proactive intervention remain largely unfulfilled. Instead, baboons are still subjected to violent aversive tactics like paintballs, confined to degraded habitats with diminishing natural forage. Unsurprisingly, they seek out high-calorie alternatives such as unsecured waste in urban areas, increasing human-wildlife encounters, fuelling public frustration and deepening social divisions. While the Chacma baboon is indigenous to the Cape Peninsula and plays an important role in the local ecosystem, especially in seed dispersal, COCT and its partners, CapeNature and SANParks, collectively known as the Joint Task Team (JTT), plan to remove about 120 of them from their ancestral range. This comes as a profound contradiction: COCT, globally recognised in 2024 as a ' Beacon City ' for its compassionate approach to animal management, is now advancing undeniably cruel removals as the sole response to the presence of wildlife in increasingly human-transformed landscapes. Political expediency disguised as ecology These removals are not driven by unavoidable so-called conflict. They reflect sustained failures to implement preventative measures and enforce existing legal obligations, including bylaws on waste management and traffic calming. The reliance on reactive, coercive interventions and short-term, violent fixes reflects a legacy of exclusionary governance and control-oriented ideologies that are inconsistent with constitutional principles of participatory decision-making, administrative justice, and practices that are free from violence. To justify removals, a narrative has emerged, based on two flawed claims: first, that some baboons have splintered into smaller groups led by ' lower-ranking ' males and females; second, that hair loss may indicate poor health. The first claim ignores the biological reality that troop splintering is natural in baboon societies. The five 'splinter troops' targeted for removal have coped over the years, surviving devastating fires and human pressure. The second claim lacks scientific transparency: authorities have not released any data on stress hormone levels, despite clear links between hair loss and the chronic stress that their very management's violent tactics create. Residents regularly documented paintball gun use, including cruel attacks on lactating females and even day-old infants. Ecological decline and governance failure The 2024 Western Cape State of the Environment Report offers a dire picture: ecosystem health continued its steady decline over the past five years. Habitat loss and species deterioration are recorded even in protected areas like Table Mountain. Drivers include invasive species, poaching, arson, illegal trade, lack of enforcement and poor implementation. While protected areas have expanded on paper, this has not translated into ecological recovery. These trends expose a critical truth: formal protection without ecological restoration is not sufficient. Fragmented, reactive conservation is failing. No climate adaptation plans seem to be effectively in place. No significant funding seems to be allocated to ecosystem repair. Most alarmingly, legal duties remain unfulfilled: the duty of care and the obligation to consider animal wellbeing in management decisions are routinely ignored. Nature continues to be treated not as a living system, but as an inert object to be controlled and used. Indigenous wisdom and suppressed ecologies Globally, indigenous communities represent just 5% of the population, yet protect more than 80% of biodiversity. In southern Africa, the San and Khoe peoples have long held baboons in high regard. Known as beings who ' refuse to die ', baboons were admired for their powerful resilience and ability to heal, escape danger and overcome drought and injury. San healers observed them closely, evoked their powers in rituals, and followed them to learn which plants they used to manage pain and heal, laying the foundation for their legendary knowledge of medicinal plants. This is not folklore. It is empirical wisdom grounded in generations of observation and coexistence. But colonial and patriarchal conservation systems systematically devalued and suppressed this intelligence. They imposed binary hierarchies: man/woman, human/animal, white/non-white, mind/body, able/disabled, etc, to normalise domination and elimination. As Dr Vandana Shiva notes, modern science evolved to serve exploitation, treating Nature as lifeless and turning knowledge into a tool to justify extraction. In doing so, it dismissed the regenerative wisdom of Indigenous people, women and peasants, precisely the knowledge we now urgently need: that of care, reciprocity and regeneration. Rehabilitation, not removal Removal is not a solution; it is a symptom of systemic failure. The way forward lies in rehabilitation, restoration and rethinking our relationship with Nature. To begin repairing its fractured bond with wildlife, the JTT must shift from a conservation paradigm of control and elimination to one of ecological restoration and care. COCT must immediately impose a moratorium on all planned baboon removals. Any future decision must be based on interdisciplinary knowledge, transparency, procedural fairness and genuine public consultation. This contrasts sharply with the flawed process imposed on the Cape Peninsula Baboon Advisory Group, which was handed the baboon removal final decision without being consulted. CapeNature and SANParks must commit to large-scale habitat restoration. This means rehabilitating degraded zones, creating corridors and large ecological patches and planting indigenous food-bearing species essential for baboon and other wildlife survival, reducing their dependence on urban waste. COCT must implement its own mitigation strategies and bylaws on waste management, WildCT and the Cape Peninsula Baboon Strategic Management Plan by promoting true interdepartmental collaboration between waste management, law enforcement, urban planning and environmental units. This crisis is not simply political. It is ecological, ethical and cultural. It will only be resolved when the question shifts: not how to remove baboons, but how to restore the environments that have failed them. DM
The Citizen
26-04-2025
- General
- The Citizen
PICTURES: Baboons and humans clash in urban Kommetjie
In Cape Town the coexistence of humans and Chacma baboons in urban areas, particularly in villages like Kommetjie, has led to increasing tensions and conflicts. A mother Chacma baboon runs across the road with her baby in search of their sleep site while a gathered crowd of affected Kommetjie residents stand in protest to baboons living in the urban space. Despite efforts under the City of Cape Town's 'Baboon Strategic Management Plan', which involves tracking, educating residents, and reducing baboon harm, hostilities between baboons and humans, including attacks on pets and property damage, continue to rise. The presence of baboons, who forage and sleep within urban spaces, has divided the community, pitting animal rights activists against frustrated residents. A recent survey of Kommetjie residents revealed that 55 percent have daily encounters with baboons, 85 percent have had baboons enter their homes, and 83 percent have altered their lifestyles to avoid conflict. However, with no alternative plans in place, the struggle between maintaining baboon welfare and ensuring human safety remains unresolved. Photographer Alan van Gysen, from Matrix Images, is documenting the situation. A sticker on the back of a Kommetjie resident's vehicle. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images Kommetjie residents chase habituated, wild baboons from entering the central business area. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images Kommetjie residents protest against the inaction of authorities with regard to habituated baboons who occupy the urban space in Kommetjie. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images A habituated wild baboon eats from a takeaway carton, while raiding a City of Cape Town municipal bin in Cape Town. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images The alpha male baboon Kataza of the Klein Slangkop troop on the Cape Town peninsula forages in the garden of a Kommetjie home. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images A baboon monitor follows habituated wild baboons making their way through traffic and residential homes en route to their regular sleep site. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images A Chacma baboon walks towards a shop in Kommetjie. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images Kataza, an alpha male Chacma baboon, of the Klein Slangkop troop forages in a reidential garden. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images A baboon monitor radios in coordinates of the Klein Slangkop baboon troop to head office on the Slangkop Mountain above Kommetjie. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images Two juvenile Chacma baboons play on the roof of a home. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images A nursing mother Chacma baboon forages through unsecured bins behind Kommetjie's central commercial area. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images PICTURES: Is the Cape Town Cycle Tour the world's most beautiful race?
