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Cape Town residents demonstrating against the relocation of the Slangkop baboon, Kataza.
- An animal activist approached the high court amid a tug of war over a popular baboon on the Cape Peninsula.
- Ryno Engelbrecht wants the city of Cape Town to return the Kataza baboon to Kommetjie.
- Engelbrecht claims that the ear tags used in Kataza are testing their ability to function.
Court documents filed in Western Cape Superior Court this month allege that the relocation of Prohibited (SK11) of Cape Town is a violation of the Animal Protection Act, an “abject failure”, and challenges the City’s alleged authority to handle baboons on the urban fringes of the Cape Peninsula.
The request for review of the city’s controversial decision to relocate Kataza was issued in the high court on Friday, October 2 by animal activist Ryno Engelbrecht.
He is seeking a court order to replace the GPS tracker, remove the ear tags, and return the Cape Chacma baboon to its range in Slangkop, Kommetjie.
The court action follows a demand letter from Engelbrecht’s investigating attorneys, Visser & Associates, to which the City did not respond.
CapeNature and South African National Parks (SANParks) are cited as the second and third respondents, who, according to Engelbrecht, have “evaded” their legal obligations “at great cost to Cape Town taxpayers.”
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The South African Navy and Human and Wildlife Solutions (HWS) are cited as the fourth and fifth respondents in their capacity as members of the City Baboon Technical Team (BTT).
The city contracted with HWS to manage indigenous chacma baboons on the urban fringes of the Cape Peninsula, until the end of September.
Cape Town residents demonstrating against the relocation of the Slangkop baboon, Kataza.
Cape Town residents demonstrating against the relocation of the Slangkop baboon, Kataza.
Kataza’s disappearance from Slangkop in August caused much consternation among the residents of Kommetjie.
More than 23,000 people have signed a petition, addressed to the city’s mayor committee for spatial planning and the environment, Councilor Marian Nieuwoudt, to return Kataza to its range in Slangkop.
Kataza is well known to the residents of Kommetjie and the rangers of HWS, who led several baboon troops on the Cape Peninsula until the end of September.
He reappeared in Tokai, where the City had relocated him as a “scattered” baboon, to integrate with the Tokai baboon troop.
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In his founding affidavit, Engelbrecht refers to the relocation practice as “an abject failure”, which “almost always leads to the euthanasia of the primate.”
The court documents include 12 supporting affidavits, confirming that Kataza has roamed the streets of Tokai for 30 days, while in Kommetjie in just six days in July.
“Kataza and the public would be better served if he was permanently relocated to his Slangkop troop and monitored in a scientifically recognized manner.
“There are far fewer dangers to both Kataza and members of the public in the less urban and / or populated area of Kommetjie, than in the busy Tokai district … it seems as if they are sitting around finding a reason to end their life allowing you to violate their protocols on a daily basis. “
Engelbrecht alleges that the City has violated the Animal Protection Act.
The court documents include a veterinary evaluation by primatologist Paul Venter of the Riverside Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, who says Kataza is fatigued and stressed, and that the cumbersome GPS collar and ear tags are “inappropriate” and “deplete” his ability to function.
Venter says that the forced integration of Kataza into another unknown troop is “outside of recognized scientific reintegration methodology … outside the scope of adequate animal welfare and is therefore interpreted as animal cruelty.”
Speaking to News24, Nieuwoudt denied that the City had violated the Animal Protection Act.
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Engelbrecht questions the involvement of the City Navy, SA and HWS in the management of the baboons as illegitimate, as this is beyond their authority.
“To my knowledge, there is no statute or municipal ordinance regarding the management of baboons (or other wild animals) that authorizes the first respondent to do so … It is very possible that the respondents who made these decisions were not authorized to do so. and that they were caught illegally, “Engelbrecht said.
Nieuwoudt claimed that the city, along with CapeNature and SANParks, had a joint responsibility for managing wild animals on their common borders.
Defendants have 10 days to provide records of their decision procedures to relocate Kataza and file a notice of opposition; and another 15 days to present affidavits to respond to the accusations.
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