In Cape Town the coexistence of humans and Chacma baboons in urban areas, particularly in villages like Kommetjie, has led to increasing tensions and conflicts.
Despite efforts under the City of Cape Town’s ‘Baboon Strategic Management Plan’, which involves tracking, educating residents, and reducing baboon harm, hostilities between baboons and humans, including attacks on pets and property damage, continue to rise.
The presence of baboons, who forage and sleep within urban spaces, has divided the community, pitting animal rights activists against frustrated residents.
A recent survey of Kommetjie residents revealed that 55 percent have daily encounters with baboons, 85 percent have had baboons enter their homes, and 83 percent have altered their lifestyles to avoid conflict.
However, with no alternative plans in place, the struggle between maintaining baboon welfare and ensuring human safety remains unresolved.
Photographer Alan van Gysen, from Matrix Images, is documenting the situation.
A sticker on the back of a Kommetjie resident’s vehicle. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesKommetjie residents chase habituated, wild baboons from entering the central business area. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesKommetjie residents protest against the inaction of authorities with regard to habituated baboons who occupy the urban space in Kommetjie. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesA habituated wild baboon eats from a takeaway carton, while raiding a City of Cape Town municipal bin in Cape Town. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesThe alpha male baboon Kataza of the Klein Slangkop troop on the Cape Town peninsula forages in the garden of a Kommetjie home. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesA baboon monitor follows habituated wild baboons making their way through traffic and residential homes en route to their regular sleep site. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesA Chacma baboon walks towards a shop in Kommetjie. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesKataza, an alpha male Chacma baboon, of the Klein Slangkop troop forages in a reidential garden. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesA baboon monitor radios in coordinates of the Klein Slangkop baboon troop to head office on the Slangkop Mountain above Kommetjie. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesTwo juvenile Chacma baboons play on the roof of a home. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix ImagesA nursing mother Chacma baboon forages through unsecured bins behind Kommetjie’s central commercial area. Picture: Alan van Gysen / Matrix Images
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