26 Apr 2016

Almost every resident of Kasane has a story to tell about baboons. The majority are in agreement with one thing, that baboons are a nuisance.

In an endeavour to get to the root of their encounter with humans, BOPA interviewed the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) senior wildlife warden Chobe, Mr Jefter Maphorisa.

He said they get an average of five reports per day, which is usually during the dry season when food is scarce. These baboons cause havoc by tearing tarpaulins covering maize and helping themselves to it in the trucks that travel to Botswana-Zambia border.

They also eat vegetables in school gardens, scatter litter from refuse bins in homesteads and schools among other things.

“People have a tendency of giving baboons’ leftovers of bananas and other foodstuff which makes them get used to this habit. They usually become a nuisance when they come for more and find nothing hence they raid homesteads,” added Mr Maphorisa.

One of the teachers in Chobe Junior Secondary School where baboons always raid houses, Ms Patricia David said they broke into her house several times and she is now scared of them.

“I remember one day while i was cleaning, I saw the baboons approaching my house eyeing the eggs which were on top of the fridge through a window.

 I immediately rushed to close the doors and windows but they broke the window pane and pulled the eggs through the broken space,” she said.

She lamented that these baboons are very rough and violent as they can attack you when you try to scare them away and they use force to get whatever they want inside the house.

“They have even gone to the extent of opening the door, pulling out everything from the fridge and throwing things around as I stood there helpless,” added Ms David.

Another teacher, Mr Ben Phiri said they recently broke his car windscreen worth around P2 800 and when he reported the matter to the DWNP, he was told that they do not compensate for damages caused by baboons.

One of the street vendors in Kasane complained about baboons taking his goods and running away with them and she always remain there helpless because they become aggressive whenever you try to chase them away.Mr Maphorisa said they were trying their best to address the situation as they have a 24 hours rapid response team which attends to reports immediately.

He said they have engaged Ipelegeng workers accompanied by wildlife officers who are placed strategically around the village and patrol the affected areas during the day to control them at different times.END