Cheeky baboons muscle in on meal time
John Yeld
December 28 2006 at 05:21PM

Christmas may be a time of giving and sharing, but the Tokai baboon troop appeared to abuse this tradition when they "demanded" a share of a Sun Valley family's meal at Lister's Place restaurant in the historic Tokai Arboretum.

Then, to add insult to injury, the family was allegedly charged double, having to pay about R360 for the meal they were forced to share with the baboons, and its replacement.

The restaurant manager, however, claimed that the family had offered to pay for both meals. Table Mountain National Park staff said the situation had been aggravated when the children threw scones at the baboons, hitting a baby baboon on the head.

The animal had promptly "screamed blue murder", aggravating the situation as the adult baboons rallied to its "defence".


Leon Olivier said he, his wife, mother, sister and five children had visited the arboretum last week and had sat down at an outside table at the restaurant after a walk.

But while they were having their meal, they had been "surrounded and threatened" by the baboons.

"My family's cries of distress must have alerted the manager or owner of the restaurant, because she came out and tried in vain to chase the baboons away," he said.

His family had not been able to move because of the "aggressive" attitude of the baboons, and the manager had eventually told them to leave their food there and go inside.

"The baboons then ran amok, eating the food, and plates were broken."


His family had then asked for the same meal to be served, but had been taken aback when the bill arrived and they found they had been charged double.

"My family paid the bill and went home. The manager told them this was only the second incident in six years," said Olivier.

He said park official Chris Botes had told him that there were "daily" complaints about the baboons. He also said the children had thrown scones to distract the animals so the family could retreat inside.

"It's unacceptable that patrons are not warned about this, and it's clear that nobody there knew how to handle the situation," said Olivier.

"I will be happy if my family is compensated for the double bill and given an apology."

Park area manager Gavin Bell said the incident was "sincerely regretted". He had spoken to Olivier's mother and sister and "explained that we're investigating and, to the best of our ability, will ensure that there are no similar incidents".

The park had applied to the city for funding to expand the baboon monitoring programme, increase awareness and improve security.


This article was originally published on page 5 of Cape Argus on December 28, 2006

Less than 3.00 USD per meal. Not bad!

I would pay for meals for everyone as long as I got to shoot the babboons.

There ought to be a complimentary rifle, pistol or shotgun provided with every meal along with 25-50 rounds of ammunition.