Baboon wellbeing: activists take fight to court
BABOON and animal rights activists have embarked on legal action against authorities for their alleged failure to implement a plan to protect the wellbeing of baboons and humans which they claimed has “resulted in the mistreatment, criminalisation, harm and death of baboons”.
Main applicant in the court action, Ryno Engelbrecht, said the “long-awaited” legal action against authorities - including the City, SANParks, Table Mountain National Park, Western Cape Nature Conservation Board, the South African Navy and the Minister of Environmental Affairs - all cited as respondents in the litigation.
Engelbrecht, together with Baboon Matters NPO, Beauty without Cruelty NPO and Jo-Anne Bosman alleged the authorities had failed to implement agreed-upon strategies to address human-baboon conflict in the Cape Peninsula.
“Decades of tensions between humans and baboons have been a continual source of conflict and despite discussions, proposals and endless meetings, lack of consensus among decision-makers has resulted in inaction leaving both human communities and the baboons vulnerable.
“There is general agreement that baboons should thrive in natural habitats rather than human-occupied areas and proposed mitigation measures including reducing attractants, enforcing bylaws, deploying trained rangers and implementing strategically placed baboon-proof electric fencing, all of which have been researched and agreed upon for over 23 years, have only been partially implemented - if at all,” said Engelbrecht.
Approached for comment, the City referred enquiries to SANParks. SANParks did not respond to a query by deadline. Cape Nature was not able to respond to a request for comment yesterday.
According to Engelbrecht, the decision by authorities to terminate the Urban Baboon Programme was the catalyst for the litigation action.
They are seeking relief from the courts that extends the current baboon ranger programme past 31 December 2024 until such time as alternative adequate and effective measures have been implemented to replace the terminated programme.
Further relief sought includes provision of strategic baboon-proof fences, appropriate baboon-proof bins, traffic calming and insulation of electric power lines, “all of which must be fulfilled within determined timelines and not at cost to the residents”.