He was a notorious monkey from the idyllic Cape Peninsula at the tip of South Africa: after many misdeeds, the robber, as daring as it was repeated, recruited a team. There the authorities stopped.
Cape Town City Hall said in a statement that the dominant man was executed Thursday morning, adding that he was “killed in a humane manner” with the help of a veterinarian.
Baboons, a notorious garbage scavenger and food thief who, until a few moments, left in their gardens or on their oceanfront terraces, terrorized for months the picturesque little village in Smitswinkel Bay, one of the last villages before the South. Tip of the continent.
He has settled in the area since 2018, after withdrawing from his original group that was operating on a nearby tourist route, and began attacking homes, empty or even in front of their stunned residents, from the second half of last year.
His thefts are becoming less accurate. Baboons entered “urban areas” more than 40 times in five months. In February alone, he stole ten occupied homes, identifying Cape Town in its press release.
Its range of intervention extended to more than eight kilometers.
Hundreds of baboons, whose habitat tends to shrink, live around the coastal city of Cape Town. Presence is considered agonizing due to their attack on food, property, or tourists.
In recent weeks, a splinter group of females and juveniles teamed up with the “ugly baboon” and the authorities had to intervene, the city says, as their behavior put the entire group at risk.
Locals have vaccinated their homes with baboon control devices, reduce their food waste, and remove outdoor garbage bins. But they failed to deter the gang.
“Despite the additional expenditures and the active commitment from the village, especially with regard to garbage management, the baboons continued to have more and more important contact with the residents,” the press release regrets.
With the death of their leader, the city hopes that the splinter group of young men and women will soon find their natural habitat. And a more normal life.
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