A Day with "Baboon Matters"

Walking with Baboons

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon "walking with baboons." There is a group called "Baboon Matters," who lead tours that take you to a couple of the troupes of baboons that live in the hills around Cape Town (http://www.baboonmatters.org.za/). Baboons are seen by most South Africans as big pests. In fact, it is legal to shoot baboons in every province in South Africa except the Western Cape. Baboons are very smart, and have that most important evolutionary trait, "opposable thumbs." So, they've learned to open windows and doors, climb into people's houses, and raid the fridge (and garbage, and anything else that might smell like food). Just last week some "American tourists" had their care "baboon-napped." It turns out that they got out of their care to take some photos of the baboons along the road, and while they were photographing, the baboons got into their car, and started eating their picnic lunch! Needless to say, people who live on the outskirts of town have lots of baboon interaction, not all of it is positive. There is a long history of handling baboons through poisoning, and shooting. Baboon Matters is working to shift this, as they say, "sustainable solutions for managing baboons."

Well, "Baboon Matters" does two things. They train and support a crew of "baboon monitors" who walk with the baboons, and kind of herd them away from homes and settled areas. Not a perfet science, but an interesting attempt to try and facilitate more harmononious co-habitation. There are 3 monitors who work with each baboon troupe, 7 days a week, dawn till dusk. They are mostly young unemployed males from the local township, and for them, this is great work. Unfortunately, there seems to be constant struggles over funding, as neither the City of Cape Town, the Province, or the National Parks Service wants to take on the responsibility. The other service they provide is that they take people on tours, to walk with the baboons, learn about them, and hopefully, change their perspective. Naomi is a regular, now having gone out three times with them. We took Jamie on Saturday, along with Alex and her friend Nicole. We had a fabulous afternoon amongst a troupe of about 30 baboons of all shapes and sizes (including a baby who was only 2 weeks old). Our guide "Chris," knows most of them individually, and their histories and characteristics. So, you just hang-out, and he teaches you about the baboons, their behavior, and the issues they struggle with trying to co-habitate with an ever-expanding urban population. It was absolutely fascinating. Here is some of the video footage. Enjoy.


Blog ya later,

Seth./.