Cape Town - Another male baboon was successfully captured by the Cape of Good Hope (CoGh) SPCAs Wildlife Department on Monday morning in the vicinity of Rondevlei, between Grassy Park and Lavender Hill, after taking a stroll in the southern suburbs.
Reports first came in of the baboon spotted along Prince George Drive near Steenberg, later making its way to Grassy Park.
Belinda Abraham, CoGH SPCA spokesperson, said the baboon was safely captured by the organisation on Monday and is in their care.
She said they will be requesting guidance from authorities with regards to a safe release proposal.
It is the second time a baboon was spotted in the southern suburbs in recent months.
In August, a male baboon had social media buzzing after dispersing from his troop.
Sightings of the animal captured the imaginations of Capetonians who recorded the animal visiting Plumstead, Kenilworth, Ottery, Kenwyn, Lansdowne and even Hanover Park.
Grassy Park ward councillor, Shanen Rossouw, said she wasn’t worried if a baboon entered the community because residents in her ward know what to do.
“This is the second time a baboon was spotted in the area but the community knows what to do and takes precaution.
“They contact me and I alert the SPCA. If they can’t get a hold of me then they phone the SPCA immediately.”
Lynda Silk from the Cape Peninsula Civil Conservation added: “From time to time, adult male baboons disperse from the troop they were born into, and find their way into urban areas. These ‘dispersing male baboons’ are not looking to live in the suburbs they pass through, they are looking to find a fresh troop they must join at sexual maturity. It is a tremendous danger and struggle for dispersing male baboons to find their way through to reach other baboon troops, when Table Mountain National Park Nature Reserve is not a continuous wild space, but is interrupted by long stretches of housing and development.”
Gavin Walbrugh from the Steenberg Community Policing Forum (CPF) said the baboon did not pose a threat but was threatened by children who pelted stones at it.
Wildlife Team supervisor, Jon Friedman, said they called for calm, restraint and understanding in all human-wild animal interactions.
“A wild animal in our urban areas is usually in unfamiliar territory, is terrified, might be injured and may act out of character if cornered or hurt by people. Keep dogs leashed and away from the animal as far as possible and educate children not to want to hurt or kill wild animals for any reason.”
marsha.dean@inl.co.za