OPEN LETTER
23rd January 2026
A Sword of Damocles: The Looming Threat of Permanent Removal of Chacma Baboons from the Cape Peninsula
Introduction
From the onset, more than thirty South African wildlife protection and conservation organisations have consistently opposed the Cape Peninsula Strategic Baboon Management Plan, which shockingly includes the deliberate extirpation of an indigenous species, the Chacma baboon species from Simon’s Town. Not only is the Plan unnecessary and cruel, crucially it fails to address, and indeed entrenches, insupportable human behaviour, which is the root cause of the negative baboon human interface.
An international wildlife organisation, Animal Survival International (ASI), has now entered the fray and sounded the alarm over the plans to permanently cage two Cape Peninsula baboon troops, highlighting obvious welfare and wellbeing issues and the potential permanent negative environmental impact.
This untenable situation has highlighted a deep divide between purposefully tone deaf authorities, aiming to cleanse certain suburbs of baboons, and conservationists pushing for coexistence, proper waste management and the protection of the baboons in their natural, though dwindling, habitat.
It is unfortunate, that the decision to remove and cage the baboons, and unnaturally and cruelly cast them into captivity for exhibition, has silenced some conservationists because they have been made to believe that if they oppose the permanent caging of the baboons, the baboons will be killed.
Cape Town – A City Deeply at Odds with Itself: Rapid Urban Development and Tourism versus the Protection of Biodiversity
Cape Town is located in an endangered ecosystem. The decision to permanently remove two entire baboon troops from Simon’s Town is contradictory to the content of the published Biodiversity Spatial Plan 2025 for Cape Town. The plan is striving to ensure that the City of Cape Town ecosystems remain intact. The intention of the Cape Town BioNet is to reduce conflict between environmental and developmental sectors by providing up-to-date information on biodiversity priorities that will guide forward planning, future development and conservation of nature.
The Western Cape’s biodiversity is threatened by tourism’s growing pressures which are leading to habitat loss, increased pollution, and strain on water resources. Tourism businesses in the Western Cape are being urged to prioritise biodiversity protection as visitor numbers continue to rise, placing growing pressure on the region’s natural systems.
The Cape Peninsula’s critical status as a global biodiversity hotspot, known as the Cape Floristic Region, and tourism’s growing recognition of the need for conservation, is sounding the alarm for the integration of sustainable practises into development and operations to protect the fragile ecosystems. In reality though, the rapid development for tourism infrastructure such as more accommodation, is encroaching on natural areas, fragmenting crucial habitats. Increased human activity is heightening risks to endangered plants and animals.
It is not only the growing tourism industry that is threatening biodiversity in the Western Cape, the City of Cape Town is actively pushing rapid development through major infrastructure projects, renewable energy initiatives housing plans, port expansion and economic strategies to boost tourism and jobs all guided by long-term plans like the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the Cape Town 2050 Long-term Plan.
The Atlantic Seaboard is experiencing a rapid high-density development boom, driven by intense investor interest, the post covid recovery of tourism and semigration. While this has fuelled record-breaking property sales it has simultaneously raised concerns about infrastructure strain, traffic congestion and loss of long-term rental affordability. Now there is increased urban and suburban development eroding the unique cultural, environmental and rural character of regions known as the Deep South on the Southern Peninsula of Cape Town. There are anxieties about unchecked modernisation and urban sprawl displacing local identity, green spaces and community character.
The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum of South Africa (WAPFSA) contends that the Chacma baboon’s needs and natural behaviours are being disregarded in favour of trade and industry and rapid urban development. The Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Action Plan, agreed upon by the City of Cape Town led by the Democratic Alliance, SANParks and CapeNature, is a plan that aims to minimise human baboon interaction and keep baboons out of urban areas, primarily through measures such as permanent displacement and killing.
Their latest Action Plan includes capturing and relocating the Seaforth and Waterfall baboon troops from Simon’s Town to purpose built cages on private land on Plateau Road next door to the Cape Point Ostrich Farm. This facility will be open to paying tourists in order to sustain the costs involved with the permanent caging of the baboons.
CapeNature, one of the decisionmakers, is a conservation authority that formally aligns its policies with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines. Under the IUCN conflict-mitigation framework, the capture of a wild population and its placement into permanent captivity is not scientifically recognised or even quoted as a policy position.
It is also important to note that the Cape Peninsula Baboon Strategic Management Plan, made no reference to, nor made provision for, the capture and the permanent captivity of baboons. This proposal emerged later as part of the “final” Action Plan. This decision was published offering no scientific basis or reference to any public consultation.
The recently published 2025 Baboon Population Census commissioned by the Cape Baboon Partnership, a collaboration between Shark Spotters and the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team comprising of the City of Cape Town, South African National Parks and CapeNature states that there are a total of 463 baboon individuals in the 12 managed troops on the Cape Peninsula. This number excludes the baboons living in the Cape Point section of Table Mountain National Park and the Plateau Road troop. This total number represents a 5.3% decline relative to the census carried out in 2024. Baboon conservation organisations have published their concerns, noting the high losses of troop members including the death of 101 baboons during this reporting period.
In the census document, the Seaforth troop, comprising of 16 individuals, is described as a troop that: “sleeps in surrounding mountainous areas but spends substantial portions of the day moving, through or attempting to access, the adjacent urban environment, bringing it into close proximity with residential areas and the critically endangered African penguin colony. This presents ongoing welfare and conservation challenges. In line with the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Action Plan, a planned intervention will involve relocating the troop to a purpose built sanctuary to reduce the so-called conflict, limit ecological risk and improve welfare outcomes.”
The Waterfall troop, numbering 44 individuals, is described as: “spending a substantial proportion of its time in transformed environments, including regular use of urban areas in Simons Town, despite sustained ranger efforts to limit access. Under these conditions, the troop is exposed to elevated risk, relies heavily on anthropogenic food sources, and experiences ongoing disturbance. In line with the Action Plan, a planned management intervention will involve relocating the troop to a purpose-built sanctuary to address ongoing welfare and risk concerns for both baboons and residents.”
This forced, unnatural removal of baboons in order to “reduce conflict, limit ecological risk and improve welfare outcomes” is taking place in a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this cleansing of baboons is to be carried out by a city that markets itself globally as being abundantly ecologically diverse.
The permanent captivity plan for the baboons goes against their natural free-ranging existence. The plan also includes the sterilisation of male baboons which means that the baboons from Seaforth and Waterfall troops that survive the capture process will be the last surviving baboons from these historic troops. Tourists will be able to witness first-hand, what is, in our opinion, a failure of the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team to protect, and sustain these baboons in their natural habitat.
Why are the Authorities Ignoring a Genuine Alternative?
Dr Dave Gaynor a Zoologist, a conservation ecologist, an expert in biodiversity, and wildlife management, has said that after a quarter of a century of baboon management, research and millions of rands spent, “we are going backwards.”
“Ecologically, losing baboons would be catastrophic for the Peninsula. Chacma baboons are not simply charismatic primates and a drawcard for tourists; they are a major seed disperser and ecosystem engineers within fynbos and move nutrients from low-lying areas to nutrient-poor high lying areas where they sleep. Studies and ecological assessments emphasise their role in dispersing seeds and potentially aiding germination, especially in post-fire landscapes where they forage on exposed seeds and early regrowth.
The baboons are part of the machinery that keeps this globally unique vegetation type functioning. Remove them, and you remove the resilience of the entire system. There is no neighbouring baboon population waiting to recolonise the southern Peninsula. Once they are gone, they are gone.”
WAPFSA questions why the detailed plans submitted by conservation organisations familiar with the baboons in Simon’s Town were never considered for discussion. These conservation organisations are most familiar with the baboon troop behaviour in Simons Town over decades, agree that partial fencing using tried and tested baboon fencing could be part of a solution that should be seriously and transparently considered.
This particular fencing is recognised by the Baboon Technical Team, animal welfare organisations and researchers at UCT’s Baboon Research Unit as a prototype for effective human-baboon overlap mitigation. Dr Gaynor has proposed an electrified baboon-proof fence along the existing firebreak above the town, bundled with the firebreak maintenance that is already required for safety.
Conservation organisations believe that the proposed fence line does not have to be continuous. They also believe that the natural wild areas for the baboons behind this fencing needs to be protected. This fenceline would make it possible for local baboon monitors and residents to prevent incursions without a small army field staff patrolling the mountain every day. It would confine baboons to their natural habitat while still allowing them to forage right up to the fence, which actually increases their effective home range by removing the constant need to be chased off the lower slopes. The fence is designed to safely allow unhindered access to mammals such as grey mongoose and genets and allow access to the mountain through gates at the trailhead, ensuring continued public access to the mountain. It would also protect the Boulders penguin colony by closing off the most used baboon and, most importantly, caracal’s access routes from the mountain into the coastal areas.
Conclusion
As long as anthropogenic attractants and unmanaged waste remain accessible, even a small number of baboons will enter areas to exploit those resources. Improving waste management and securing the safety and ecological integrity of the mountain in Simons Town are not optional measures; they are fundamental obligations under the existing management framework.
Experts have repeatedly warned that removing entire troops through killing or permanent captivity risks creating a genetic bottleneck within the remaining baboon populations. Both authorities and scientists have acknowledged this concern, yet no credible solution has been presented to address the long-term genetic consequences of removing a significant number of individuals from an already declining and geographically isolated population.
The Joint Task Team’s decision to capture the baboons (and kill those individuals who evade capture) and to permanently confine those who are captured, is in our opinion irrational and disproportionate. Such extreme measures are being pursued without implementing less invasive mitigation options explicitly identified in the management framework.
The excuse provided by the City of Cape Town is that they do not want to risk spending R6.5 million on a fence whose design they claim is unproven and which they fear might simply shift the baboons to other suburbs.
Dr Gaynor says that this reasoning is difficult to reconcile with the published evidence that baboon-proof fences of similar design have been successfully implemented in Zwaanswyk and other settings, and with SANParks own technical report acknowledging that such fences have been developed, refined and demonstrated in other parts of South Africa.
Yet the City of Cape Town is satisfied to risk spending in excess of R10 000 000 on building cages on private land. The annual costs needed to care for the caged baboons is considerable.
What is the real reason that the City of Cape Town wants the baboon permanently removed from Simons Town? Is the municipality planning further development in Simonstown? Is this why the City of Cape Town is reluctant to consider the alternative, more natural measures to discourage the baboons from entering the central business district? Is this an unwritten Democratic Alliance plan? To remove all inconvenient baboon species from the Cape Peninsula and the Overstrand?
Image: Greengroup Simons Town 2025
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