Humans vs the Baboons - Round X
Geraldine Bennett
 Much has been written in recent months about baboon and human interactions in
suburban and urban areas with the focus mainly on the baboons of the Cape
Peninsula.
The Cape Peninsula does indeed provide interesting reading material on these
interactions, yet it is not the only area in the Western Cape that is home to
baboon troops.
The Overstrand area, which covers residential areas like Rooiels, Pringle
Bay, Betty's Bay and on to Hermanus, is also home to many baboon troops. The
difference, though, between the baboons of the Cape Peninsula and those of the
Overstrand is that the former troops are geographically, and thus genetically
isolated, whereas the Overstrand area provides an open mountain-chain system
which extends some 1 000 km's north to the Richtersveld and around 500 km's east
to Knysna and Tsitsikamma.
 Chacma baboons, "Papio ursinus" in the Overstrand area, or more
specifically the Kogelberg Biosphere, number between twenty-five to thirty-five
in their troops, and whilst the area has an official international biosphere
status, many residents feel the baboons to be a nuisance.
This continues to cause a great deal of conflict with man remaining
relatively uncompromising towards the co-existence.
Whereas the Cape Peninsula Nature Conservation Authorities have adopted a
"full responsibility" programme for the management of the baboons in
that area, the Overstrand Municipal Nature Conservation Department, together
with the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board has developed its own programme
in conjunction with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (UNESCO) under its Man and Biosphere Programme.
Although the two areas, Cape Peninsula and Overstrand, are divided by just 32
km's as the crow flies, and separated by the volatile False Bay sea, they could
be worlds apart in their approach to baboon management.
According to Craig Spencer, Nature Conservation Officer for the Overstrand
Municipality, and a member of the Baboon Management Task Team, "…the
policy of the Cape Peninsula is flawed and unsustainable." Although he does
concede that the circumstances across False Bay are different to those of the
Overstrand area.
Spencer believes that both man and the authorities have to take dual
responsibility for the management of the baboons.
In the Cape Peninsula area the authorities are taking full responsibility
through their programme of "baboon-minders".
"This removes active participation from the residents, has long-term
financial implications and is unsustainable," says Spencer.
The baboon-minders have to be paid and this is on an ongoing basis.
Furthermore, removing the baboons from an area creates apathy eventually, and
says Spencer, "…the baboon monitors can't be everywhere at once. All it
takes is for the baboons to change their eating ritual, something for which the
residents will be unprepared. The consequences of which are
self-explanatory."
Conversely, the working document drawn up and titled "The Management of
Problem Wild Animals in the Overstrand Municipal Area" in conjunction with
UNESCO, places joint responsibility on the authorities and the residents.
Spencer explains that it is difficult to manage an open system and cites as
examples man attempting to manage whales or galjoen.
According to the document the key activities required to be achieved are:
· Ensuring maximum co-operation of the public.
· Improving the management of household refuse.
· Establishing a committee to measure the effectiveness of the plan and the
administration of its budget, and
· A Research component.
In terms of the above, the Municipality has committed itself to removing the
local dumpsite which is in close proximity to the residential areas of Pringle -
and Betty's Bay, within the first half of 2003.
Spencer says, that although it is a relatively common sight to see both
baboons and humans foraging harmoniously at this dumpsite, the baboons only
spend one fifth of their foraging time at the dump. The baboons continue their
"easy" foraging in the dustbins of local residents homes, and as can
be expected from avid "window shoppers", if doors or windows are left
open and unguarded and there is fruit or food on display, the baboons will enter
the homes.
To this end the Municipality is looking at promoting the use of baboon-proof
bins for the residents, with thought being given to the implementation of
incentive schemes, or pay-off schemes through municipal billing.
As to the "window shopping" activities of our distant cousins, this
is where residents need to take responsibility, through awareness campaigns, and
baboon-proof their homes as well as keep food out of sight. The Municipality
emphasizes that the coastal areas of the Overstrand form the buffer zone of the
Kogelberg Biosphere and as such "…the residents should be aware that they
are living in close proximity to a natural environment and must accept
responsibility for taking necessary precautions to ensure that they minimise
potential conflicts".
The document also draws on the services of security company's and the SAP
where initial complaints may be logged of a baboon "hit". This will
require a visit by a member of the Baboon Action Committee (BAC) to the
"hit" site where a report will be completed which will investigate the
causes, and offer possible solutions. This data will be captured and form part
of the research for later evaluation.
 Spencer says though, that a "hit" site is not visited immediately
as it has been his experience that, "…the complainants are extremely
emotional at the time and their reactions are aggressive often to the
extreme."
These reactions include shooting the troop, the poisoning of the primates, or
the painting or maiming of the members of the troop.
According to Dr Jenny Stark, a founding member of the Biosphere Education and
Awareness Programme (BEAP) in Rooiels, "[Baboons] unlike humans, seem to
bear us no grudges", and this despite some extremely unsavoury incidents
where baboons have been maimed, shot with pellet-guns and/or poisoned. It goes
without saying then that to attempt to "punish" a baboon, or
"teach it a lesson" is a futile exercise.
In a document produced by Stark and titled "Trouble in Paradise"
the following incidents were highlighted:
8 October 2001: young male baboon found dead on roof of a house. Post mortem
- 'acute heart failure induced by suspected poisoning'.
18 October 2001: 3 dogs savage a baboon. Owner claims they had been 'regularly
teased by the baboons'. By the time Craig Spencer arrived on the scene, the
baboon was dead. When he tried to remove it, a large male standing guard a short
distance away, sounded a number of harsh barks and made a mock charge.
19 January 2002: the same dogs isolate 2 baboons on the roof of a house.
Neighbours call the conservation officer on duty, who is attacked by one of the
dogs while investigating the complaint. The dog is shot, the 2 baboons escape.
28 January 2002: the body of a large male baboon placed in our (Dr Jenny Stark's)
garden under cover of darkness.
In the incident of 28/1/2002 it was with relief that it was discovered that
the baboon placed in Starks garden was not the Alpha male, as a few weeks later
when the troop returned, the infants were still alive.
Had this particular victim been the dominant male then in all probability the
infants would all have been killed by a new Alpha male in a phenomena known as
"infanticide". In this case the new dominant male would seek to remove
all of the gene pool from the previous Alpha male.
The baboons of the Overstrand are extremely necessary in an area that has
more than sufficient ecological carrying capacity. They are considered a very
important component of the environment on the coastal plain. It has been noted
that there is a direct correlation between their movements and the availability
of natural fruit. The area, which is dominated by the fynbos species, doesn't
produce fruit generally with the parent plant retaining its seed and only
dispersing this seed should a limb die by being broken off, or through fire.
Before the inhabitation of the area by man, Eland, Red Hartebees and Black
Rhino (to name just a few) abounded in the area and their trampling actions
would disperse fynbos seed. What has been observed currently is that baboons
handle this function on a stochastic basis. This aids the survival of many of
the insect species, releasing seed and allowing for regrowth.
Despite the benefits of perpetuating natural processes like seed distribution
in the fynbos, the same occurs in a less positive situation. The Overstrand has
a growing problem with Rooikrantz, classified as an alien/invasive plant with
its "roots" down under. The tree is nitrogen-fixing and its red seeds
are thus very rich in nitrogen. Nitrogen being a serious requirement in most
mammals. Naturally, the baboons prefer to limit their foraging time, so feed on
the Rooikrantz, carrying the seed in their faeces and distributing it  further a
field. According to Spencer, "The Rooikrantz is a bit like a B&B for
the baboons - providing both nitrogen and shelter."
With this in mind the Municipality is also doing a great deal, in conjunction
with volunteer groups, to remove the Rooikrantz which will ultimately also
influence change in the habits of the baboons.
In closing, it may be opportune to dispel a few of the myths surrounding
baboons. Killing the Alpha (dominant) male will not solve the baboon problem.
"It's a bit like shooting the President," says Spencer. Absolute
anarchy takes place without leadership and this can lead to a
"baby-boom" six months later. This will not only exacerbate the
co-existence problems but will result in a weakening in the gene pool as
siblings mate with one another.
Finally, baboons have no interest in human beings, seeing them only as a
source of food. More often than not their surroundings more than cover their
foraging/nutritional requirements. They have turned to "human food" as
a consequence of ill-informed humans thinking it "quaint" to feed
them.
Photos by Thomas P Peschak
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