http://www.herald.co.zw/where-baboons-dare-to-tread/


Where baboons dare to tread

May 24, 2014 Opinion & Analysis



Sydney Kawadza Senior Features Writer

From time immemorial baboons have been deemed as vermin or pests. Farmers have a long-standing beef with baboons that is not going to go away anytime soon.
They are some of man’s closest relations in the animal kingdom, but baboons have never come any closer to – or grown warmer bonds with – their more civilised cousins.

From time immemorial baboons have been deemed as vermin or pests.
Farmers have a longstanding beef with baboons that is not going to go away anytime soon.

However, farmer or no farmer, residents at the country’s border towns have come into mortal conflict with the baboons that frolic the localities.
The baboons are wreaking havoc and, unfortunately for humans, they have studied us and know how best to strike.

Victoria Falls businessman Mr Tonderai Mutasa said baboons in the country’s prime tourist destination have become a menace.
“Baboons are very cunning and mischievous. They have taken to studying our moves; that is why they can open car doors when they see food inside,” he said.
He said baboons damaged property, especially cars and roofs.

“When they are playing on the roofs you should make sure you call your satellite dish installer for resetting because they break the LNB.”
Cars have not been spared either as the playful and oft mischievous animals break windows as they play.

Mr Mutasa has also observed the unity among the troops that roam the town of Victoria Falls.
“If they discover that one of their own has been trapped it is rare for the other baboons to leave the area before they see what has happened to their pal and if it starts screaming the whole troop will cause pandemonium,” he said.

He added that baboon troops had mastered the art of opening doors to cars and houses, and they sometimes sent the smallest members to enter houses through windows in search of food.

Shearwater Adventures spokesperson Mr Clement Mukwasi finds the primates quite fascinating.
“The Zimbabwe-Zambia border posts are manned on both sides of the river by the food searching family heads whose menacing looks scare away our women,” he said.
He added that women are heard on several occasions screaming after being raided by the animals.

“They rob women of paper bags, all sorts of food, big cellphones and handbags. They can tell the gender of a person through the dress code and the presence of breasts. If ever one leaves a house with windows or doors open, the baboons descend on the house eating their favourite food including sugar, bread, eggs, potatoes and rice,” he said.

The primates sleep on rooftops, slide on electricity lines and pylons and often destroy crops and orchads.
Mr Mukwasi, however, said the animals were favourites with tourists who throw food at them for close-up photos.

“Baboons are playful animals that love fun all the time. Parking a car near or under a tree is a risk that one may regret forever. They can jump onto the windscreen and shatter everything. The most vicious ones are the family heads.”

He said one of the worst experiences was to have two baboons mating on your rooftop.
“Their worst fear, however, are snakes. To drive them away for some time, one needs to buy rubber snakes and throw them around.”

In Chirundu, the primates are equally daring and people in the area have sent an SOS to the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to assist them.



The animals open truck tarpaulins on vehicles to get food.
The baboons that roam Chirundu have also devised ways to open car doors, pry off planks from wooden cabins and remove roofing from makeshift houses at the infamous Baghdad compound.

While many are known to target women and children, the baboons can even attack unsuspecting men in grab-and-dash missions.
Ms Atukele Kurisa was a recent victim; attacked by marauding baboons that removed planks from her shack.

“The baboons have become so crafty that sometimes they remove roofing material and eat everything they can find in the house,” she said.
Ms Kurisa lost mealie-meal, her baby’s porridge and other food items.

Ms Portia Maringisanwa said their major problem was accommodation. She lives in a shack that cannot keep away the animals.
“The authorities should give us places to build proper houses because the baboons have become so daring that we do not even feel safe in our homes anymore,” she said.
The people of Chirundu find a measure of humour in their interactions with their cousins. The more notorious baboons have been given names.

There is the duo of Dereck and Joshua who everyone in the town knows.
According to Mr Arnold Mukausaru, Dereck is known for targeting children, grabbing whatever food they hold.

“Dereck spends a long time monitoring the children, attacks or slaps a stubborn child before making off with the food and most of the kids here would rather eat indoors.

“Then there is Joshua, who has a big scar on the mouth and attacks anyone, even men, as long as they are holding bags. He can enter a shop for bread or buns when a crowd is in there as long as he thinks no one is watching him,” he said.

Mr Mukausaru added: “As much as we would want to get rid of the baboons using catapults it is a crime because you will be fined up to US$20 even for feeding the animals because authorities suspect that you may poison them.”

There is the interesting story of Alfred the Baboon from Beitbridge.
The beast is named after the old Alfred Beit Bridge, where he perched himself and attacked just about anyone who walked by.

Many people from the town say he owned the bridge and you would only pass on foot either after “giving” him a tribute or if he was in a good enough mood.
Writing on the man-baboon conflict in Cape Town, South Africa, George Tyson talks about one primate named Bart, who set up camp at the university cam- pus.

According to Tyson, Bart was a dispersing male who left his troop in search of another. This, he said, was a strategy used by all male baboons at some stage to prevent inbreeding.

“Instead of another troop, Bart found university students. He was removed and transported to Cape Point, the furthest possible point away from the campus in the hope that he would integrate with some existing troops in the area,” Tyson wrote.

But Bart was found on campus six months later, looking for food and getting about the university like any other student.
Authorities put him down.

According a study by Julian Saunders and Larisa Swedell, there are three ways to reduce baboon-human conflict, though there are no quick-fixes.
“Baboons are behaviourally flexible and extremely mobile and have thus been able to adapt to and circumvent most strategies implemented to date,” they say.
They add that there is need to consider ecological needs and behaviour of baboons in their natural environment.

The duo say baboons are not attracted to humans, but rather the resources around them – in particular food.
Thus, they said, strategies employed include reducing the attractants and using aversion techniques including protecting food from baboons, providing them with artificial water sources and artificial sleeping sites for the primates.

According to National Geographic, there are five different species of baboons and all of them live in Africa or Arabia. Some generally prefer savannah and other semi-arid habitats.

It adds that baboons are opportunistic eaters and, fond of crops, become destructive pests to many African farmers. They eat fruits, grasses, seeds, bark, and roots, but also have a taste for meat.

They will eat birds, rodents, and even the young of larger mammals, such as antelopes and sheep.

Feedback: sydney.kawadza@zimpapers,co.zw

We need to introduce baboons to California; especially San Francisco. The greenies would then perhaps understand what guns were good for.

and after eating a few greenies they could reach new social prominence

They are incredible pests. I still have no desire to shoot one.

We were near a fly camp in Masailand around lunchtime and I was sitting in the mess tent having a beer after lunch when we heard the most gawdawful commotion in the kitchen area. There was crashing, a good amount of cursing, screeching, and some banging of pots pans, breaking glass -- all manner of chaos. After a few minutes of this, the camp manager showed up at the mess tent at a dead run, out of breath. He asked in swahili if I wanted to shoot a baboon. Hapana, but it was hilarious.

Some times they even run African countries!

A few weeks with tasers might just persuade them otherwise.

Baboons are my favorite animal to hunt. Many people don't understand why I love to hunt them.
Baboons are very smart , fast as an Impala, can jump over 15 ft straight up. They talk with each other , using scouts in trees and on high rocks to alert the troop. Baboons eyesight is as good as ours. They can see into a blind or shaded area, also can see a rifle at a very long distance. They can sense a armed man over an unarmed man. In many towns it is illegal to use guns in side the city limits, the baboons know this and they know where the city limit lines are drawn. I have seen them lying around and playing in a town park (sitting on swing sets and monkey bars) But outside of town all are very alert and usually running fast. I have enjoyed hunting and shooting them and the South Afrikan farmers seem to like it as well. So I say long live The Great Baboons the most Challenging animals I have ever had the opportunity to hunt !

quote:

Originally posted by jack steenson:
Some times they even run African countries!

you have insulted baboons worldwide by calling them politicians.

quote:

Originally posted by Grumulkin:
We need to introduce baboons to California; especially San Francisco. The greenies would then perhaps understand what guns were good for.

never. in CA we have wasted money on birth control for deer, rather than raising money and harvesting food by hunting them.

if baboons were let loose in SF, the locals would grant them human rights, add them to all the diversity-is-mandatory-for-everybody-no-exceptions posters, and then launch into interspecies marriage as a constitutional right.

I guess th silver lining would be that while academic success may dip a little, common sense and family values indicators would skyrocket.

quote:

Originally posted by jack steenson:
Some times they even run African countries!

In Namibia where I hunt baboons are called "Uncle Bob"

quote:

Originally posted by delloro:

quote:

Originally posted by Grumulkin:
We need to introduce baboons to California; especially San Francisco. The greenies would then perhaps understand what guns were good for.

never. in CA we have wasted money on birth control for deer, rather than raising money and harvesting food by hunting them.

if baboons were let loose in SF, the locals would grant them human rights, add them to all the diversity-is-mandatory-for-everybody-no-exceptions posters, and then launch into interspecies marriage as a constitutional right.

I guess th silver lining would be that while academic success may dip a little, common sense and family values indicators would skyrocket.

if baboons were released in SF, no one would notice as the locals look and act so similar. monkey see, monkey do. i prefer the "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em" out approach.