
Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa
The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum South Africa (WAPFSA) is a national alliance and collaborative network of South African non-governmental organisations representing the interests of wild animals and their natural environments. Our members bring expertise in science, conservation, environmental protection, law, animal welfare and rights, social justice and public advocacy. We engage government, industry and communities through research, policy and legislative submissions, advocacy, monitoring, investigation and collaborative legal interventions. Our work promotes ethical and compassionate conservation, humane coexistence and the recognition that biodiversity protection, animal well-being and social justice are interconnected.
Continued Condemnation of Plans to Relocate Cape Peninsula Baboons to Captivity
The capture and permanent relocation of the baboons from the Seaforth and Waterfall troops in Simon’s Town is being driven by the Cape Peninsula Baboon Management Joint Task Team (CPBMJTT) comprising the City of Cape Town, SANParks and CapeNature supported by their consultant experts including Professor Justin O Riain, Dr Esme Beamish and Dr Joselyn Mormile.
WAPFSA has, from the onset, strongly condemned the various published plans to either kill or to relocate Cape Peninsula baboons to permanent captivity. We have labelled the current plan a false dichotomy, a functional extirpation, and a grotesque reminder of South Africa’s terrible past.
WAPFSA explicitly rejects the choice presented by authorities, that the baboons must either be permanently caged or killed as a completely constructed false dilemma. We maintain that opposing both options is perfectly consistent because viable, non-lethal, free-ranging coexistence alternatives have not been fully or fairly assessed. We will continue to insist that these options are rigorously debated and trialled.
WAPFSA is paying close attention to how the City of Cape Town is reacting, to the mounting public scrutiny and criticism from investigative journalists and civic groups over their policies aimed at fast-tracking large-scale property developments. Local residents’ associations, environmental advocates, and civic coalitions contend that the municipality is rushing major approvals. They argue this happens at the expense of environmental protections, resource management, and heritage preservation. Meanwhile, city officials defend these fast-tracked initiatives as essential mechanisms for economic growth, infrastructure expansion, and spatial integration. The management of urban baboon populations in municipalities, such as the City of Cape Town and the Overstrand Municipality, is a complex issue driven by competing priorities. The debate centres on balancing the protection of a native species with the economic and infrastructural demands of expanding urban centres.
Nowhere is this competition for land more fierce than on the Cape Peninsula. The conflict between high-end residential and commercial expansion and local chacma baboons in Simon’s Town stems from a systemic failure and lack of political will to integrate wildlife-proof infrastructure into new developments and urban management.
The rhetoric that the Simon’s Town baboon troops, specifically the Waterfall and Seaforth troops, offer no ecological or genetic value is heavily disputed by conservation biologists, geneticists, and environmental organizations. Presented by city authorities and their consultant experts as a humane alternative to culling, their latest proposal involves capturing and relocating the Waterfall and Seaforth baboons to a purpose-built enclosure at Kogelfontein. This strategy is facing heavy criticism for prioritising urban expansion and expensive property development over natural habitat preservation.
A WAPFSA member and others have submitted several requests to various government authorities using the Promotion of Access to Information Act regarding the Waterfall and Seaforth baboons, and the construction and permitting of the so called urban wild life centre at Kogelfontein.
While these PAIA processes are underway, WAPFSA continues to welcome, and encourage voluntary transparency in response to our questions listed below:
©WAPFSA 2026. All Rights Reserved.











