Cape Town Baboon Plan Sparks Outcry Over Welfare, Environmental Responsibility

Cape Town's plan to trap and confine Seaforth and Waterfall baboons before rolling out coexistence measures sparks outcry over management failure, welfare and environmental responsibility. As Cape Town heads towards the 4 November municipal elections, it is also building what primatologist David Gaynor has warned might become a " monument to management failure ". Around 60 chacma baboons from the Waterfall and Seaforth troops in Simon's Town might soon be removed from the landscape where they have lived for generations and placed into permanent captivity at the City-owned Urban Wildlife Centre at Kogelfontein near Scarborough. The City's Action Plan provides for the animals to be captured, assessed, and moved into purpose-built enclosures, with healthy males vasectomised. Green Group Simonstown NPC (GGST) has since resigned from the Cape Peninsula Baboon Advisory Group (BAG). "We did not join the Advisory Group to lend legitimacy to decisions we fundamentally question. We joined because we believed participation meant that evidence, community experience and viable alternatives would influence the outcome. For approximately seven months, we repeatedly raised the same fundamental concerns. We have not seen those concerns meaningfully reflected in the decisions being implemented. We won't endorse something that, in our view, amounts to a zoo." The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA), a national network of wildlife, conservation, environmental and community organisations, has repeatedly opposed the... Read the full story on Daily Maverick . AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 90 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals , representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica . To address comments or complaints, please Contact us . AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa - aggregating, producing and distributing 600 news and information items daily from over 90 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC. Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy . We need to confirm your email address. To complete the process, please follow the instructions in the email we just sent you. There was a problem processing your submission. Please try again later.