Rooiels WAG also keep the Facebook page for Rooiels Wildife - and if you love to see photos of the wildlife in Rooiels be sure to Like them on their page.
From time to time the baboons may be more active and/or there are many visitors or new residents who are not yet used to protecting their homes. The baboons are not a threat to people. They only want your food. This is the response that WAG put out to residents on the babons
Response to baboon incidents of 4 and 7 June 2019
On 4 June 2019, several young baboons entered an unoccupied home through an open window with inadequate burglar bars. A few days later (7 June 2019), a baboon gained entry to a vehicle parked at the CBD, using his hand to open the unlocked door. The Rooiels Wildlife Action Group(WAG) has taken note of comments posted on the Village People WhatsApp group (VP), reviewed security camera footage and spoken with witnesses. We have written this report to address the most common concerns shared and also to highlight some broader issues on baboons in the Overstrand.
The key issues
1) Baboons are gaining entry into some homes via inadequate baboon-proofing.
Proposed action: It is important to check the baboon-proofing of your home regularly. The recommendation is that all gaps in baboon bars and trellidoors be less than 8cm. If you are installing baboon-proofing for the first time, we recommend a gap of 7cm. Please close all doors and windows securely when you are not at home. This is a security as well as a baboon precaution. More recommendations can be obtained at: https://rooiels.weebly.com/how-to-protect-your-home.html or contact Gavin Lundie (082 900 3173) or Wolfgang Steinbach (082 823 6821) via WhatsApp.
2) Baboons are successfully gaining access to food and rubbish in the CBD area.
The number of businesses with food and food waste has doubled in the past year.
Proposed action: It is in the best interest of businesses and the whole village, that baboons are strictly discouraged from hanging around the CBD. We strongly recommend the installation of electric wiring on all business buildings to prevent baboon access to rooftops and upper level, open eating areas. Restaurants with open eating areas on ground level will have to immediately chase baboons away when they come into the CBD. This should be done using humane measures such as shouting, clapping and/or brandishing a catapult. (To ensure the safety of patrons and visitors, and to protect parked vehicles, no projectiles should be shot from a catapult). There must be effective waste disposal, appropriate baboon-proofing and customers, contractors and employees should all be made aware that it is strictly prohibited to feed baboons. Pringle Bay is currently paying monitors R200,000/annum in salaries for partial monitoring (see below) and we believe that in RE this can be done, at least in the CBD, by vigilant staff/owners at no cost to residents.
3) Car doors are routinely being left unlocked and car windows open.
No-one would think of leaving a car unlocked at a South African shopping mall and we must encourage the same mindset in the RE CBD, though for different reasons. Baboons can easily open unlocked vehicle doors and will do so. Windows should also be closed.
Proposed action: Signs should be erected alerting visitors to lock their vehicles. Please remind contractors and visitors to your property to do likewise.
Broader issues to consider
Overstrand planning on baboon management
At this time the Overstrand municipality does not have the mandate or the funding to provide baboon management, but they did sign an agreement in March 2019 to work with CapeNature and Dept of Environmental Affairs on the way forward. Full details can be found on the Overstrand Municipality Facebook page.
Monitoring
In May, three members of WAG attended the Hermanus Baboon Action Group community meeting. Baboon management strategies were discussed, as well as potential funding opportunities. Pringle Bay currently employs a small team of part-time baboon monitors to try to keep baboons out of the village at a cost of R200,000/annum for monitor salaries alone. This money is raised solely through resident donations, which has proven difficult in terms of long-term sustainability. Hermanus is now looking at initiatives to raise funds of well over R1 million/annum, which will allow them to employ a company that implements virtual fencing and monitors. These interventions will not replace the need for adequate baboon-proofing and being baboon-wise. WAG has been advised that the topography of our village and surrounds will provide significant challenges to keeping baboons out of the urban area.
Removal of baboons
Under Cape Nature jurisdiction, baboons are not relocated to other areas.
Individual baboons, believed to cause issues to human health and safety, can be euthanized, but only after a rigorous process is followed to determine whether removal (by euthanasia only) is appropriate. This can only be done where the individual baboon can be unequivocally identified (e.g. ear tags). However euthanasia is not a solution to raiding issues. Where one baboon learns a behaviour, so can the next. The onus is on us to prevent baboons accessing food, through careful waste management, garden management and keeping them out of our homes and cars.
Harming baboons
Baboons are driven more by reward than punishment. Eliminating opportunities where they can access our food is much more effective than “teaching them a lesson”. Intentionally harming baboons is illegal. Firing pellet/air/paintball guns in a built-up area is also illegal. Please visit this link for more information on baboons and the law: Baboons and the law
Baboons & Safety
Baboons are wild, intelligent animals. They are not predators and rarely cause injury to people. Their sole interest in us relates to our food which we must keep out of their view and reach. A common misconception about baboon behaviour relates to their grimace (or showing of their teeth) which they do when startled or scared. This behavior is not the same as a dog, which bears its teeth when displaying aggression. The fear grimace is usually accompanied by a ‘cack’, which sounds similar to a rough cough. Neither of these behaviours advertise aggression, but they do indicate fear and are routinely displayed when a baboon is cornered. Please read this link on our website with tips on what to do and how to behave if baboons get into your home or car. Baboon hits
On 4 June 2019, several young baboons entered an unoccupied home through an open window with inadequate burglar bars. A few days later (7 June 2019), a baboon gained entry to a vehicle parked at the CBD, using his hand to open the unlocked door. The Rooiels Wildlife Action Group(WAG) has taken note of comments posted on the Village People WhatsApp group (VP), reviewed security camera footage and spoken with witnesses. We have written this report to address the most common concerns shared and also to highlight some broader issues on baboons in the Overstrand.
The key issues
1) Baboons are gaining entry into some homes via inadequate baboon-proofing.
Proposed action: It is important to check the baboon-proofing of your home regularly. The recommendation is that all gaps in baboon bars and trellidoors be less than 8cm. If you are installing baboon-proofing for the first time, we recommend a gap of 7cm. Please close all doors and windows securely when you are not at home. This is a security as well as a baboon precaution. More recommendations can be obtained at: https://rooiels.weebly.com/how-to-protect-your-home.html or contact Gavin Lundie (082 900 3173) or Wolfgang Steinbach (082 823 6821) via WhatsApp.
2) Baboons are successfully gaining access to food and rubbish in the CBD area.
The number of businesses with food and food waste has doubled in the past year.
Proposed action: It is in the best interest of businesses and the whole village, that baboons are strictly discouraged from hanging around the CBD. We strongly recommend the installation of electric wiring on all business buildings to prevent baboon access to rooftops and upper level, open eating areas. Restaurants with open eating areas on ground level will have to immediately chase baboons away when they come into the CBD. This should be done using humane measures such as shouting, clapping and/or brandishing a catapult. (To ensure the safety of patrons and visitors, and to protect parked vehicles, no projectiles should be shot from a catapult). There must be effective waste disposal, appropriate baboon-proofing and customers, contractors and employees should all be made aware that it is strictly prohibited to feed baboons. Pringle Bay is currently paying monitors R200,000/annum in salaries for partial monitoring (see below) and we believe that in RE this can be done, at least in the CBD, by vigilant staff/owners at no cost to residents.
3) Car doors are routinely being left unlocked and car windows open.
No-one would think of leaving a car unlocked at a South African shopping mall and we must encourage the same mindset in the RE CBD, though for different reasons. Baboons can easily open unlocked vehicle doors and will do so. Windows should also be closed.
Proposed action: Signs should be erected alerting visitors to lock their vehicles. Please remind contractors and visitors to your property to do likewise.
Broader issues to consider
Overstrand planning on baboon management
At this time the Overstrand municipality does not have the mandate or the funding to provide baboon management, but they did sign an agreement in March 2019 to work with CapeNature and Dept of Environmental Affairs on the way forward. Full details can be found on the Overstrand Municipality Facebook page.
Monitoring
In May, three members of WAG attended the Hermanus Baboon Action Group community meeting. Baboon management strategies were discussed, as well as potential funding opportunities. Pringle Bay currently employs a small team of part-time baboon monitors to try to keep baboons out of the village at a cost of R200,000/annum for monitor salaries alone. This money is raised solely through resident donations, which has proven difficult in terms of long-term sustainability. Hermanus is now looking at initiatives to raise funds of well over R1 million/annum, which will allow them to employ a company that implements virtual fencing and monitors. These interventions will not replace the need for adequate baboon-proofing and being baboon-wise. WAG has been advised that the topography of our village and surrounds will provide significant challenges to keeping baboons out of the urban area.
Removal of baboons
Under Cape Nature jurisdiction, baboons are not relocated to other areas.
Individual baboons, believed to cause issues to human health and safety, can be euthanized, but only after a rigorous process is followed to determine whether removal (by euthanasia only) is appropriate. This can only be done where the individual baboon can be unequivocally identified (e.g. ear tags). However euthanasia is not a solution to raiding issues. Where one baboon learns a behaviour, so can the next. The onus is on us to prevent baboons accessing food, through careful waste management, garden management and keeping them out of our homes and cars.
Harming baboons
Baboons are driven more by reward than punishment. Eliminating opportunities where they can access our food is much more effective than “teaching them a lesson”. Intentionally harming baboons is illegal. Firing pellet/air/paintball guns in a built-up area is also illegal. Please visit this link for more information on baboons and the law: Baboons and the law
Baboons & Safety
Baboons are wild, intelligent animals. They are not predators and rarely cause injury to people. Their sole interest in us relates to our food which we must keep out of their view and reach. A common misconception about baboon behaviour relates to their grimace (or showing of their teeth) which they do when startled or scared. This behavior is not the same as a dog, which bears its teeth when displaying aggression. The fear grimace is usually accompanied by a ‘cack’, which sounds similar to a rough cough. Neither of these behaviours advertise aggression, but they do indicate fear and are routinely displayed when a baboon is cornered. Please read this link on our website with tips on what to do and how to behave if baboons get into your home or car. Baboon hits
