Category: PRIMATE PROTECTION IN SOUTH AFRICA

PROVINCIAL POLICIES ON BABOONS: THE SHOCKING CASE OF THE ABANDONED STORMBERG BABOONS 

National and Provincial legislation, policies and attitudes towards indigenous primates are largely responsible for the persecution and extirpation of baboons in South Africa. They are trophy hunted, shot, poisoned, electrocuted on pylons, run over by vehicles, trapped for traditional medicine and bushmeat and killed by dogs. Many infants and juvenile baboons are orphaned when their mothers are killed. There is a dire need for educational sanctuaries and rehabilitation centres willing to take in orphaned and injured baboons and offer them protection and a life with their own kind either in natural habitat sanctuaries or back in the wild.

The establishment of the Stormberg Conservation Baboon Rehabilitation Centre and Sanctuary (NPC 2020/1148708) was officially permitted by the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) in the Eastern Cape. This so-called sanctuary dissolved without warning or notice in 2024 leaving thirty-nine Chacma baboons lives at risk on Klipfontein Farm, Witkop (near Burgersdorp). 

Several non profit organisations, members of WAPFSA have been trying to assist these abandoned baboons. Primate C.A.R.E. agreed to help to manage the facility remotely with funding provided by the EMS Foundationto ensure that the rescued baboons were provided with food and other necessities and that staff employed at Klipfontein Farm who directly cared for the baboons were paid and provided with electricity.  This emergency agreement came with the proviso that the baboons were allowed to remain safely in their enclosures on the farm owned by Theunis du Plessis for a period of twelve months or until a suitable new permanent sanctuary home could be established for them in the Eastern Cape.   Karin Morgan agreed to oversee the day-to-day care of the baboons during this period and for that reason the provincial nature conservation permit was issued and registered in her name.  

As a last resort, when no suitable rehabilitation facility could be determined in the Eastern Cape, the EMS Foundation offered to assist with the funding of the relocation of these thirty-nine baboons from the Eastern Cape to Primate C.A.R.E. in Limpopo Province. The EMS Foundation also agreed to fund the costs of constructing new enclosures for the baboons as well as provide funding towards their rehabilitation at Primate C.A.R.E.

DEDEAT agreed to provide permits for the thirty-nine baboons to be exported to Primate C.A.R.E. in Limpopo Province for rehabilitation and for them to be relocated back into the Eastern Cape for release by negotiated arrangement with private reserve owners. Of concern is the Eastern Cape authorities were not willing to provide these rehabilitated baboons an opportunity of release in any of their provincial reserves.  

WAPFSA members have been reliably informed that orphaned baboons have been relocated from facilities who act as halfway houses for rescued primates, including baboons, in Eastern Cape Province to another primate sanctuary which is also based in Limpopo Province.

We Wild Africa a non-profit wildlife translocation logistical organisation agreed to provide the veterinary and logistical expertise for both the short-term and long-term planning for this emergency project. Primate C.A.R.E agreed to accept the thirty-nine baboons where each baboon will be individually assessed, and if need be, all thirty-nine baboons would be quarantined. 

It is difficult to give an exact estimate of time that it will take to rehabilitate the baboons. Despite this fact, a reasonable timeframe has indeed been provided by Primate C.A.R.E one that has satisfied DEDEAT and therefore it should also be acceptable to the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET).

WAPFSA is aware that the current permit held by Primate C.A.R.E  stipulates that the import of baboons from other provinces are prohibited.  However, the baboons are not going to remain in the Limpopo permanently they are going to be exported back to the Eastern Cape after they have been rehabilitated, i.e. this is a temporary arrangement. Moreover, WAPFSA questions the legality of refusal of baboons into Limpopo for sanctuary and rehabilitation. 

Considering that there is a feasible solution for the thirty-nine baboons WAPFSA believes that LEDET should urgently consider the merits this extraordinary application which is supported by a number of wildlife conservation non-profit organisations and a provincial conservation agency in order to expedite a final decision/position on this matter.  The parties concerned requested an urgent meeting between LEDET/EMS/CARE/DEDEA and the logistics and veterinarian experts.  Unfortunately LEDET has refused this meeting. 

Of critical importance is the fact that the owner of the farm in the Eastern Cape has requested that the baboons are removed as they no longer have a valid permit.   According to DEDEA they are also suggesting that the thirty-nine baboons are killed within 72 hours. 

“The landowner, may open the cages and chase the animals out and have a competent hunter dispatch the animals as humanly as possible.  This option is the most cost effective for the landowner”

WAPFSA is hereby URGENTLY APPEALING to LEDET, particularly the Acting Director for Wildlife Trade and Regulation, Ms Paulina Moeng, to allow special permit conditions for this emergency situation.  

©WAPFSA 2025. All Rights Reserved.

WAPFSA is in agreement with Dr Dave Gaynor, an outspoken expert appointed to the Joint Task Team: “It is a serious shortcoming that the City of Cape Town is committing the vast majority of funds to this programme and being the public front for action undertaken by the programme. The principal mandate to protect biodiversity and wildlife health sits squarely with SANParks and CapeNature — institutions established precisely for this purpose. Expecting a municipality with broad social obligations (housing, welfare, services) to shoulder the primary financial burden of baboon management while national and provincial conservation agencies abstain, violates core principles of ecological governance and biodiversity stewardship. At minimum, SANParks and CapeNature should commit resources equal to the City’s contributions.”

WAPFSA Members the Green Group Simonstown and the Southern African Faith Communities Environmental Institute Submitted Comprehensive Comments to Joint Task Team:

Image: ©KVET 2025

©WAPFSA 2025. All Rights Reserved.

The Cape Peninsula and the Overstrand region of the Western Cape of South Africa are known for their significant UNESCO recognition. The Cape Floral Region Protected Areas is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, celebrated for its exception plant diversity and unique Fynbos vegetation. The Kogelberg Nature Reserve lies between Gordon’s Bay and Kleinmond in the Overstrand region of the Western Cape is considered a core conservation area.

The Cape Floral Region Protected Areas is a World Heritage Site inscribed in 2004 is located at the southwestern tip of South Africa and is one of the world’s major centers of terrestrial biodiversity. This region encompasses national parks, nature reserves, showcasing a remarkable array of endemic plant species particularly within the Fynbos vegetation. The site is managed by CapeNature and the Cape Action for People and the Environment programme. 

The Cape Peninsula baboon population represents a genetically distinct peripheral population exhibiting unique behavioural adaptations to Mediterranean-type fynbos ecosystems. Each individual eliminated represents irreversible loss of evolutionary heritage shaped by millennia of adaptation to this UNESCO-recognised biodiversity hotspot and represents a unique evolutionary experiment in primate adaptation to Mediterranean-type ecosystems. 

WAPFSA members share concern about the proposed removal of the chacma baboon from the Cape Peninsula and the Overstrand regions of the Western Cape of South Africa and the negative implications on the status of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Cape Floral Kingdom.

Keystone Species Functions 

Peninsula baboons serve as irreplaceable ecosystem engineers within the Cape Floral Kingdom, providing essential ecosystem services: 

Seed Dispersal Networks: Long-distance dispersal of indigenous fynbos species, particularly large-seeded fynbos taxa, maintaining vegetation genetic diversity across fragmented landscapes through specialised gut passage and territorial movements spanning kilometres. Their daily foraging movements of 2-8 kilometres create critical dispersal networks connecting fragmented fynbos patches, facilitating gene flow in plant populations that co-evolved with primate-mediated dispersal over millennia. 

Soil Nutrient Cycling: Foraging activities and strategic nutrient deposition significantly influence soil chemistry and plant community composition throughout 16 distinct territorial ranges. 

Trophic Regulation: Complex predator-prey relationships with apex species whilst regulating invertebrate populations, maintaining ecological balance essential for fynbos ecosystem integrity. They also serve as prey for apex predators, maintaining critical predator-prey dynamics within the fynbos biome. Baboons also play roles in pollination facilitation and influence soil nutrient cycling. 

The ecological implications of eliminating 25% of these dispersal agents extend far beyond baboon population dynamics. Endemic Protea species, many found nowhere else on Earth, depend on baboon seed vectors for long-distance dispersal between suitable habitat patches. Systematic reduction of dispersal agents fundamentally alters plant community composition, particularly critical following the December 2023 fires that already stressed regeneration capacity across the region. No efforts have been made to rehabilitate the area to improve foraging for the baboons. 

WAPFSA Concern 

WAPFSA is concerned about the negative consequences and the sustainability of the designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Cape Floral Kingdom due to the aggressive management policies and or the permanent removal of the chacma baboons in these sensitive areas. 

©Image: Kogelberg Villages Environmental Trustees (KVET) 2025

©WAPFSA 2025. All Rights Reserved.

Members of the Wildlife Animal Protection Forum of South Africa (WAPFSA) have expressed their concern about the reopening of the Bloemfontein Zoo in a letter to the National Council of SPCA’s.

This is a copy of the communication:

On the 1^st of August 2025 it was reported that a sum of thirty million rand has been allocated over three years for infrastructure upgrades improved amenities and restoring the Bloemfontein zoo’s operation capacity.  “We have appointed a consultant and he is busy designing the first phase of the refurbishment Head of Community Services at Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, Dr Thabang Thinda”

WAPFSA members are extremely concerned to read that this vast sum of money has been allocated to the refurbishment of the Bloemfontein Zoo. We are writing to seek your absolute assurance that this facility will not be refurbished as a zoo to exhibit any wild animal species.   

On the 3^rd October 2024 the NSPCA confirmed that their application to the High Court of South Africa, Free State Division, Bloemfontein would prevent the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality from re-opening the zoo unless they comply with stringent conditions, which the NSPCA believed were unlikely to be met. 

The order, which was granted on the 19 September 2024 states that the Mangaung Municipality is prohibited from receiving any wild or exotic animals without the necessary permits.  Additionally they are restricted from receiving any threatened or protected  animals unless granted permits in terms of the Threatened or Protected Species (TOPS) Regulations, including registering as commercial exhibition facility.

Furthermore, the Zoo cannot reopen unless there is a sufficient budget to lawfully and sustainably operated the facility, along with an official resolution duly passed by the municipal council. The NSPCA further stated that the Free State Department of Economic, Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (DESTEA) cannot in properly considering the animal welfare implications issue any permits in good faith unless significant changes are made to the now defunct Bloemfontein Zoo. 

The NSPCA stated that there is no place for archaic practices like zoos which hold no bona fide education for conservation purposes, this will not be the end of the NSPCA’s fight against zoos in South Africa and we will continue to serve the best interests of all animals kept in these synthetic and inadequate environments.

In October 2024 WAPFSA member organisations stayed at an urban hotel in Bloemfontein called the Protea Hotel Willow Lake The property of this hotel borders onto the grounds of what was the Bloemfontein zoo.  The tiny enclosures are derelict and overgrown. The only remaining animals were buffalo which could not be relocated or moved because of the threat of a tuberculosis contamination. 

The organisations were informed by senior hotel staff that  representatives from the Johannesburg Zoo stayed at the hotel for a prolonged period of time in September 2024. 

WAPFSA is unsure what official role the Johannesburg Zoo is playing in the planning for the reopening of the Bloemfontein Zoo but according to a media report published on the 27^th May 2024 Johannesburg Zoo representatives were/are involved. Mr Sello More, the City Manager accompanied by heads of Departments and a team from the Johannesburg Zoo, visited the Bloemfontein Zoo on the 24^th May 2024 to obtain a progress report ahead of the re-opening.  

“There is a lot of work happening on the ground and I am very impressed by the progress made to date.  This facility belongs to the people of Mangaung, and we need to get it up and running soon.”

The Bloemfontein Zoo closed down because of financial difficulties and serious ethical concerns about animal welfare. WAFSA does not believe that the Bloemfontein Zoo can ever provide adequate space or is a suitable environment to house wild animals.   There is also an increasing global awareness of animal rights and welfare which negatively impacts public perception and their support for zoos in general. 

© Image: EMS Foundation – Bloemfontein Zoo 2024

©WAPFSA 2025. All Rights Reserved.

WAPFSA strongly recommends that the facility be restructured as botanical garden offering residents and visitors to Bloemfontein stunning scenery, diverse flora and themed gardens.  

Diverse flora will naturally attract a wide variety of birds and insects. This could be developed into a secure facility for residents and visitors to Bloemfontein to enjoy safely without compromising the welfare and wellbeing of wild animals.   The new facility can be used as an income generating venue for events, concerts, exhibitions and relaxation.  Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in the Western Cape is an excellent example of a globally recognised hub for plant conservation.

The Wildlife Animal Protection Forum of South Africa (WAPFSA) is a national network of twenty-eight South African environmental and conservation organizations established in 2017 with a particular emphasis on wild animal protection expertise. 

WAPFSA is explicitly designed as a vehicle to engage with governments on the issue of the conservation, wellbeing and protection of wild animals and the natural environment in which they live.Our policy positions are based on robust science, ethical and compassionate conservation practices and harmonious co-existence within nature. WAPFSA’s activities are underpinned by an understanding that the inter-relationship between environmental protection, animal well-being, conservation and the values of dignity, compassion and humaneness are foundational to our constitutional democracy. 

WAPFSA also advocates for the concepts of UBUNTU, the intrinsic value of wild animals and an integrative policy approach.

The WAPFSA non-human Primate Working Group has a particular interest in the management of chacma baboons inSouth Africa and has engaged with the Western Cape Provincial Government and with the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on several occasions. WAPFSA comments on the Cape Peninsula Baboon Strategic Management Plan are reflected and published on the SANParks website.

Members of WAPFSA are part of the Ministerial Wildlife Well-being Forum, instituted by the Department of Forestry,Fishery and the Environment (DFFE) in May 2023, by special request of former Minister Barbara Creecy, to consult organizations focused on best practices for the protection of wildlife, with the view to implement the provision of animal well-being in conservation practices. The Ministerial Wildlife Well-Being Forum Primate Task Team is chaired by a member of WAPFSA.

Baboons are complex agentic beings, analogous to humans. They have the capacity to suffer, share a common evolutionary and biological history, have their own unique cultures and form their own sovereign communities. Studies clearly show that other animals have rich inner lives, including languages and cultures, and recent work in political philosophy shows that they not only form their own communities, but often actively co-shape communities, habitats, and relations with humans.

When it comes to issues of management strategies, baboons warrant a very different approach from the one currently carried out by the CPBMJTT which: perpetuate settler coloniality; currently reflect a strictly utilitarian mindset – as seen from the application of lethal and pain aversion baboon management interventions and deliberately act to ‘invizibilize’ baboons. 

Thirty-Four wildlife welfare organisations have supported the Cease and Desist Letter addressed to the City of Cape Town, SANParks, Cape Nature and Sharkspotters with regard the proposal by the CPBMJTT to remove baboons from the Cape Peninsula.

READ THE CEASE AND DESIST LETTER AND IMPORTANT APPENDIX:

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©Image Credit: KVET 2024

©WAPFSA 2025. All Rights Reserved.