The baboon population in South Africa has aishugebaboon population. They live all across South Africa not just in Kruger National Park. While on a school trip to South Africa we stopped at the Cape of Good Hope where we had our first close encounter with baboons. After hiking out to the most southern point of the African continent we stood behind our van to eat snacks and catch our breath before driving back to Cape Town. A fellow classmate and I were eating our treats to refuel ourselves for the rest of the day when out of nowhere a baboon runs up to the car, jumps over my shoulder, into the van, and then left with a Costco size bag of Trail Mix. Unfortunately, we were not the only victims of the hungry baboons. This happens to hundreds of people a day even though park rangers are on the lookout with sticks to scare them away. This shows how comfortable baboons have become with people and how lives intersect.
These smart primates know that tourist means easy food for them. That is one of the major problems with the baboons that inhabit South Africa. The baboons have become more dependent on tourist populations for their foods, which most times are not great for wildlife consumption. Baboons are becoming less and less fearful of humans. Baboons will break into houses, restaurants, and even steal food straight from humans. In some cases, they are even injuring humans to get the food. In Cape Town it is illegal to feed, kill, or injure baboons according to the Cape Nature Conservation Laws Amendment Act of 2000. In an article done by National Geographic’s about South Africa’s Famed Urban Baboons, a protocol was set in 2010 that was trying to stop the baboons from raiding humans by trapping and killing the male baboons. Sadly, this did not help the raiding. It just caused social disruptions within the different troops of Cape Town baboons. The next question is, what to do next?
Cape Town thrives off of tourism. Their economy could fall without it. With that being said, there has to be a solution where tourist and the baboons can both live together in peace without either getting hurt. The baboon populations in Cape Town are not endangered so killing and trapping is still an option. However, it is easier to manage humans than a wild population of primates. To help solve the problem local law enforcement can better regulate the feeding of baboons by tourist and can give them fines if caught in the act. People can also be assigned to designated picnicking areas where they can better dispose of and take care of their trash so the baboons cannot get into. For Example, in Lake Tahoe, a lake on the eastern border of California and partially in Nevada, they have bear proof garbage cans that help keep bears out and helps them from getting used to human food. If bears are found returning to the same house/garbage repeated they are transported, but if that does not work, they are killed. This is similar to the Cape Town baboon problem. With that in mind these ideas are the best we can do at the moment where both parties are not being hurt or injured.
