In Cape Town, South Africa, an ongoing conflict between people and baboons has escalated to the point that local authorities are considering culling 117 animals from four troops, roughly a quarter of the local population. The 45-kilogram (100-pound) primates sometimes raid homes for food and have injured people, but local conservationists argue killing them isn\u2019t the answer.<\/p>\n
Urban expansion in Cape Town has pushed chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) into areas with fewer natural food sources but plenty of unsecured garbage bins that provide easy access to high-calorie food. Authorities say the local baboon population has nearly doubled since 2000 as suitable habitat has shrunk, a predictable recipe for conflict. Residents report property damage while baboons are injured and suffer health consequences from eating from trash cans.<\/p>\n
The Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team (CPBMJTT) says culling is one option, alongside translocating baboons, fencing them in, and creating sanctuaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo decision has been made as yet about the proposed removal of four troops from the Cape Peninsula,\u201d a CPBMJTT spokesperson told Mongabay by email.<\/p>\n
Carol Knox with Green Group Simon\u2019s Town, a local environmental nonprofit, said the best solution is simple: provide locals with baboon-proof trash bins. \u201cYou blame baboons for coming for food that you don\u2019t secure and now you say they must die because of that. That\u2019s really perverse,\u201d Knox told Mongabay in a video call.<\/p>\n
The latest 10-year baboon management plan, for 2023-2033, says the city of Cape Town \u201cwill work to improve waste management through providing baboon-proof bins.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Knox said the number of such bins actually provided is inadequate. \u201cThis group has not done what they promised to do according to their own documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another strategic baboon management plan also notes an \u201cinsufficient response\u201d to calls for baboon-proofing waste and human food sources.<\/p>\n
Baboons are vital ecosystem engineers and critical seed dispersers: a 2018 study found they disperse seeds from least 24 different species of plants. Researchers emphasized \u201cthe need to conserve, rather than persecute, chacma baboons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baboons are especially important for the health of Cape Town\u2019s fynbos, a diverse shrubland full of endemic plants found only on the tip of South Africa. \u201cTheir roles are so intertwined with the whole environment that if you take them away, it\u2019s a devastating loss,\u201d Knox said.<\/p>\n
Part of the baboons\u2019 habitat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and conservationists warn that culling baboons could undermine both the region\u2019s biodiversity and UNESCO status.<\/p>\n
A UNESCO spokesperson told Mongabay by email: \u201cWe are following closely the issue and are in contact with the South African authorities to better understand the situation\u201d and how it might impact the qualities that justify the UNESCO status.<\/p>\n
For now, local authorities are still working with residents and local stakeholders to come up with a plan for the baboons.<\/p>\n