Calls for Constantia resident to be prosecuted after shooting young baboon

Animal rights organisations are calling for a Constantia property owner to be prosecuted after shooting a juvenile baboon on 29 March.

Maggie lying in front of its mother after losing the use of its legs. Picture: Baboon Matters

The young female baboon, named Maggie, a four-year-old baboon from the CT2 troop, suffered severe wounds that led to the Cape of Good Hope SPCA euthanising it.

‘Yet another baboon shot, this time a young juvenile!’ Non-profit organisation Baboon Matters stated. ‘Today one of the well-heeled residents blessed to live in the area between Die Hel Nature Reserve and Cecelia Forest had two options; he could let the baboon monitors onto his property to do what they do so well and take the CT2 troop off his privately owned land and back into the forest or he could take matters into his own hands.

‘The resident chose to take a high calibre weapon and shoot a juvenile baboon,’ Baboon Matters commented.

The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has admitted 15 chacma baboons over the past six months, all presenting human-induced injuries.

‘Unfortunately, the pattern of violence against baboons is nothing new to us at the SPCA,’  Friedman, wildlife supervisor for the SPCA, told Daily Maverick, where a pregnant baboon was shot in October last year.

‘We routinely attend to baboons (of all ages) who have been shot, attacked by dogs, hit by speeding motor vehicles, ensnared and poisoned,’ he added. ‘We anticipate an increase in the number of cases we see however as residents across the peninsula ‘run out of patience’ awaiting a solution by the authorities.’

The draft for the Cape Peninsula Baboon Strategic Management Plan, produced by a joint task team representing SANParks, CapeNature and the City of Cape Town, was opened to the public in January, with the final draft to still be finalised.

The plans pertain to sustainable management of the Chacma Baboons in the Cape Peninsula.

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