People say one must never meet troubles halfway, but after the Overstrand Municipality (OM) introduced its Baboon Management Programme residents were hot under the collar.
The OM recently implemented a temporary plan to manage the Hermanus baboon troops by using Fernkloof Rangers and Law Enforcement staff.
“The team will use paintball markers to assist in intervening during raids and home incursions as well as help move the baboons out of town and back into the mountain,” said the Municipal Manager Dean O’Neill. “They will also use primers and bear bangers outside of town along the mountain to block the troop from entering or to move them further up the mountain and away from town.”
According to residents this plan is outrageous. “They have zero skills, zero empathy and zero training. This is a disgraceful attempt at resolving a situation that should never have arisen in the first place,” one resident said.
O’Neill further stated this temporary plan will remain in place until the final plans for hiring staff and procuring equipment are fully implemented. “These final plans, set to run until the end of June 2025, will be introduced in phases as staff and equipment become available, assisting the temporary team already in the field.
“This phased approach allows for ongoing improvements on a day-to-day basis and week-to-week basis, rather than waiting for all final plans to be in place,” he said.
According to an expert on the baboon problem in the Overstrand appointing Law Enforcement officers to “manage” baboons is not appropriate.
“Residents in the western areas witnessed ex-EPWP workers are not all empathetic towards wildlife. They allegedly shoot paintballs at female baboons with infants, they throw stones at the animals, they sometimes feed them and then chase them away. This inconsistency creates enormous long term problems. This is why the baboons become habituated, they begin to trust humans and identify them as food sources, then are confused when they are suddenly chased by the same humans.”
According to the expert wildlife need to remain wild, and not be familiar with humans, so this programme lacks insight, not to mention proper oversight.
“Take Pringle Bay for example. The situation is worse than its ever been under the gun-happy ‘management’. Many instances of the animals’ mistreatment were caught on video. We do not want that in the Fernkloof Nature Reserve and in the Eastern Hermanus areas.”
Another resident asked what Law Enforcement can do in situations that are happening daily in Voëlklip. “Will they use weapons, will they shout and chase, will they strategise, will they recognise Alphas? Will they release weapons in an urban area, do they have licences and permits, do they have any clue about baboon habits and responses?” she asked.
According to Hermanus Baboon Action Group (HBAG) a sustainable and well-executed baboon management plan is essential for the well-being and protection of the baboons. “We regret that the OM and HWS [Human Wildlife Solutions] were not able to reach agreement on the interim continuance of their services for Hermanus East until 30 June 2025. The HWS service proved to work,” Danie Folscher, on behalf of the HBAG said.
“We support the OM’s interim baboon management solution. Such solution should, however, rapidly become effective to avoid losing the benefits from the service provided by HWS.” The HBAG said it is therefore important that the OM keep communicating on the process of continuous improvement as undertaken by O’Neill.
“In our view required improvements will be to strengthen the team with knowledgeable management personnel, enough suitably trained monitors and the more advanced technical equipment to which the OM alludes in the announcement,” Folscher said. “The above will also be the elements of a successful and sustainable long-term solution, and we trust the necessary agreements between the OM, provincial government and Cape Nature will soon be reached. If it does become clear that the OM’s contribution to a long-term solution will be limited by budgetary constraints, we encourage the OM to seek additional funding from all and any channels, which may include provincial or national funding or even funds from residents by means of an SRA or other funding models. The HBAG also encourages residents to join their local baboon management groups (Fernkloof Group admin on 083 637 0700 and Voëlklip Group Admin on 072 872 627) and report baboon movements on these groups and on the hotline 069 151 5962.
O’Neill assured the plan was continuously being improved.
