Cape Town’s city council has announced plans to sterilize and relocate two aggressive baboon troops after repeated conflicts with residents, including break-ins at homes and businesses. The move comes amid a growing population of baboons—now numbering nearly 500 across 12 troops—following a decades-long ban on culling, which activists say has worsened the issue. Animal rights groups oppose the relocation, arguing less disruptive solutions should be explored before removing the primates from their natural habitat. The problem has escalated sharply in recent years, raising tensions between public safety concerns and conservation efforts.
Two troops of chacma baboons are breaking into homes and shops but animal rights activists insist coexistence is the answerCape Town’s city council has said it will “imminently” round up two baboon troops coming into repeated conflict with residents. The animals will be sterilised and permanently moved to a newly constructed sanctuary. The plan has been fiercely criticised by animal rights activists, who say the monkeys should remain roaming freely, and that less destructive options have not been properly considered.Cape Town’s baboon problem has been brewing since the 2000s, after the city stopped culling troops in the late 1990s after pressure from the public. But in the past two years it has reached boiling point. A 2025 census found that the population had grown by a third since 2000, from 360 baboons to 493, now living in 12 managed troops. Continue reading...
