Save the CT2 troop

It seems impossible to think that we have now been working with the CT2 troop for almost a full year!  What started out as a short term interim project has lurched from month to month as we are entirely reliant on funding from the general public to keep going.  It seems there have been too many occasions when we have been down to the last few days of funding, but luckily we have managed to pull through and we are so very grateful for your support and we are still here and working successfully  

Our two teams of monitors have done extremely well on the limited resources and have managed to keep the troop in Cecelia Forest or the beautiful natural area of De Hel for the majority of time.  Baboons have entered homes on a mere handful of occasions in the time our teams have been working as (despite a lot of effort from Baboon Watch WC to baboon proof garbage bins) the lure of easy food thrown into waste is still an attractant that brings the troop into urban areas on “bin day”.  We will continue working to encourage residents to baboon proof their bins and to use best practices for waste management (e.g. no organic matter in  general waste).

Although our teams have worked long hard hours, I am sad to report that the troop has suffered some tragic losses; Millie was killed by a car when she left the troop after the monitors had gone off duty for the night (we don’t know why she moved out of the sleep site area). Millie’s death meant that her young 10 month old daughter Mo didn’t have maternal support and the little baboon battled to keep up with the troop.  

The timing of Millie’s death could not have been worse as young dispersing male Charlie was attempting to join the troop and the dominance fights between alpha male Quinton and the young incoming male caused tremendous upheaval within the troop, meaning that Mo simply didn’t get the support she so needed.  We were devastated when Mo was killed by a car just weeks after her mom; tragically little Mo was killed in the same area as her mom.

After all the upheaval, the troop was slowly starting to accept Charlie and settle down when Charlie, too, was killed by a car in the high accident zone that had taken the lives of Millie and Mo.  The area has a tremendously busy road that winds along the mountain of Constantia Nek; there is dense vegetation and steep slopes meaning that if the baboons do attempt to cross the road at that point the chances of a road accidents are high.  We have been making every effort to prevent the baboons crossing there and the monitors and volunteers have been working well into the evenings and starting very early in the mornings to warn road users about the baboons.  We are pleased to note that the regular road users do know to slow down, but there will always be speedsters.  We have repeatedly asked the City of Cape Town to place traffic enforcement along that road to reduce the speeding and we hope that our requests are followed up with positive outcomes. 

The year has been one of great stress and emotional loss, we have had to deal with intolerant shooters who fire randomly at the baboons, as well as deal with dogs attacking and chasing the baboons when they are on the mountain.  Tragically the matriarch of the troop, Big Mama, was horrifically mauled by two dogs when she jumped into a property near to a sleep site.  Big Mama was carrying her 5 month old daughter Zeleka and sadly both mom and daughter were euthanised.  We were all heartbroken at the losses.

When I recount the deaths, it seems overwhelming – baboons living in such close proximity to dense urbanization and coming into regular contact with humans holds so much potential for conflict, and there has been a tragic toll on this small troop as a result of the busy roads, dogs and intolerant, illegal shooters.  I wonder what would have happened had we not stepped in with our teams?  Would there be any of the troop left?  

Although our task seems monumental, and at times it does feel as we have not achieved enough, I do believe that our dedicated teams are doing everything that they can to keep the baboons safe. It has been exceptionally hard to see how saddened each man is when we lose baboon life and then to see how hard they are prepared to work to make sure the troop stay on the mountain, away from residential areas.

We are extremely grateful for being enabled to do our very best for the baboons through your financial contributions to our work and I hope that you will continue to support our efforts.