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- A group of animal activists are celebrating a small victory after the city of Cape Town decided to return Kataza the baboon to its home in Slangkop, Kommetjie.
- The city had moved the beloved baboon from Cape Chacma to Tokai to monitor and track its movements.
- The baboon was transferred to Tokai after the city’s service provider admitted that they could not manage Kataza in Kommetjie and submitted two requests to euthanize the baboon.
There was a celebratory atmosphere in Tokai, Cape Town, on Saturday when a group of “baboon angels” huddled around a mobile phone to hear Ryno Engelbrecht announce that the city of Cape Town had acceded to his demands and that Kataza , the baboon, would be returned. to its range in Slangkop, Kommetjie.
The group had been protecting the beloved Cape Chacma baboon for 75 days.
The “baboon angels”, a group of animal activists determined to protect the baboon from Tokai’s urban dangers, have been diligently monitoring and tracking it since its move from Slangkop to Tokai through the city in August.
Kataza was relocated after the city’s service provider Human and Wildlife Solutions (HWS) admitted that they could not handle the baboon in Kommetjie and submitted two requests to kill it (“euthanize” it), both of which were rejected.
In October, Engelbrecht filed a lawsuit in Cape Town High Court, charging the city with cruelty to animals under the Animal Protection Act and challenging the city’s legal authority to handle wild animals.
The baboon angels celebrate the news of Kataza’s return to Slangkop, in Tokai last night.
Supplied
In court documents, Engelbrecht demanded that a GPS collar and ear tags, which had been affixed to track and identify the baboon, be removed and returned to its range in Slangkop. The GPS collar and ear tags were removed days after the application was submitted, but there was no indication that the City would return Kataza to Slangkop.
Instead, the city insisted that the chacma baboon was successfully integrating into the Tokai troop, but this was rejected by the “baboon angels”, who daily monitored and tracked the baboon through Tokai.
The city initially opposed the request, but the legal battle took a dramatic and unexpected turn on Friday when the city’s legal counsel requested a meeting with Engelbrecht’s attorney and offered to settle.
The agreement confirms that “the City Council intends to transfer him to the Slangkop troop … as soon as possible” and that “if he needs veterinary attention, it will be provided.”
Engelbrecht agreed to withdraw the app “once SK11 has been launched within range of Slangkop’s troops.”
The deal is an embarrassing defeat for the city’s Mayor’s Committee for the Environment, Marian Nieuwoudt, who had insisted that Kataza was joining the Tokai troop.
Public outrage
Kataza’s relocation sparked public outrage and a petition from more than 30,000 signatories asking Nieuwoudt to return the baboon to Slangkop.
It also has implications for the City’s policy of relocating adult male baboons and future “relocations” of chacma baboons, which are increasingly confined to small isolated spots around the peninsula. Most of the Chacma baboons relocated to another troop end up dead: killed by the adult males of the troop to which they were transferred, or killed by the City for attacking baboons when they are not accepted into the troop.
The baboon angels set out to ensure that Kataza suffered no harm by organizing daily shifts, seven days a week.
Cape Town Residents Demonstrating Against Relocation of Slangkop Baboon, Kataza (Tred Magill, News24)
Although he is very happy with the deal, Engelbrecht said he would seek legal advice on the possibility of a new application to review the city’s baboon management guidelines, which many consider inhumane.
The Superior Court lawsuit was also filed against Cape Nature, which issues “non-transferable” permits to HWS to manage the baboon on behalf of the city; and against the South African National Parks (SANParks), since the baboon troops of the peninsula are originally from Table Mountain National Park (TMNP).
SANParks did not object to the request and Cape Nature submitted a notice to abide by an “explanatory affidavit” from Executive Director Dr. Ernst Baard, who claimed that the decision to relocate Kataza had been made by Julia Wood.
A letter from city attorneys, Cluver Markotter, later confirmed that “the decision was made jointly” by Julia Wood, Dalton Gibbs, Dorothy Breed and Owen Wittridge, employees of the city’s Department of Environmental Management.
Linden Rhoda, director of the city’s current service provider, Nature Conservation Consultants (NCC), said Wood had informed him of the settlement around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, but had not received any instructions to capture or relocate Kataza.
Nieuwoudt was not available for comment.
