Help Baboon Matters help Baboons!

We did it!

After a greulling year of intensive legal research and preparation we have secured the Court Order we wanted!  From our media release today:

MEDIA RELEASE 6 DECEMBER 2024 

FROM ADVOCATES FOR JUSTICE FOR BABOONS AND COMUNITIES

Court Order obtained for hold Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team accountable to implementation of mitigation strategies.

The Applicants were approached by the Respondent (City of Cape Town) on 27 November 2024 to settle the matter out of court. Subsequently, Applicants and all parties have agreed to an Order by Agreement in which the City of Cape Town, Cape Nature and SANParks acknowledge and accept accountability to implementation of mitigation strategies.

The Order inter alia records that City of Cape Town, SANParks and CapeNature implement interim measures in respect of Baboon Rangers for December 2024 and a longer term provision of Baboon Rangers as from 1 January 2025 to 30 June 2027. The Order also records that the aforementioned parties must implement the Baboon Strategic Management Plan within a reasonable period of time, in terms of the legal expectations. 

The Order includes all the relief sought in the Applicants Application and as a result of this settlement the Applicants have withdrawn their Application with each of the Parties to pay their own costs.

The Applicants are satisfied to have obtained the Order and will monitor the implementation and progress of the Solutions closely and all their rights in this regard are reserved.  The Applicants will also monitor the effectiveness of the Community involvement in respect of implementation of the Plan via Cape Peninsula Baboon Action Group (CPBag).

The aforementioned is a huge win for Baboons and Communities as the Order records the duty of the City of Cape Town, SANParks and Cape Nature to finance and implement the Solutions. 

It must be noted, that for the first time in 24 years, there is now a Court Order in place in which the City of Cape Town, SANParks and Cape Nature have accepted responsibility for management of baboons and their duty to provide a safe and healthy environment for both communities and baboons.

There will be a great deal more work to do to ensure the mitigation strategies and solutions are implemented but we now have a Court Order to back us up and look forward to doing even more to secure protection and better management for our baboons.

As we end the year, I pay special mention to our much loved alpha male Quinton, who disappeared without trace and we have no evidence or clues as to what happened to him.  You are sorely missed Quinton.

Thank you so very much for your ongoing support, your contributions are valued and appreciated.