Stop Killing Baboons!

Stop Killing Baboons - August 2026

It has been a heart breaking few months as baboons have once again been on the receiving end of angry humans, speeding cars and injuries.

I was absolutely devastated to receive news that Colleen baboon had been shot as she ran away from an urban area.  Although she was heavily pregnant, Colleen had been collared management.  This is a method I believe is unnecessary on the Cape peninsula as those baboons have monitors with them daylight hours, every day of the year. In my view monitors should be trained to gather necessary data and baboons should not be collared.  Specifically, I do not think pregnant females should be sedated and collared however, the service providers did collar her and when the troop approached an urban area an angry resident took a .22 and shot at the female as she fled.  

Colleen was not killed quickly, she suffered greatly before being euthanased; her baby died in utero .  

Two lives were lost that day, two lives that should never have been at risk let alone lost. It is impossible not to feel angry that she was shot, but more than that is the deep sadness I feel at the pointless loss of lives.

In another case, we were called to a vineyard to assist with what appeared to be an injured young baboon.  On arrival my colleague immediately spotted the carcass of a young baboon and we were confused – had the female died?  But we discovered the little girl hiding and realised that her legs were paralyzed and, from the bad state of her feet, she seemed to have been paralyzed for a while.   X-rays showed that the one baboon had been shot, but we are waiting for the post mortem results of the paralyzed girl.

As the death rate of baboons appears to increase, we are overjoyed to have success where we do and successfully releasing a young infant to a troop was encouraging and gives us hope.

We are working collaboratively with other NGO’s and vets and are able to injured animals as quickly as we can.

We are continuing to advocate for better, effective management of baboons and were delighted to read a recent review of study undertaken in a small coastal village.  We note that the team put emphasis on reducing attractants that bring baboons into urban areas and that by securing the garbage bins, baboons spent less time in the area.  We have been encouraging villages and authorities to adopt this approach for years now and so it was uplifting to note the success of that particular project.

Baboon Matters is entirely dependent on donations to do our work and we are so grateful for your continued support.   The international and local cost of living increases have negatively impacted what people are able to give and so we are appreciated of your contributions.  Thank you for helping us to do all we can to end the persecution of these charismatic animals.