Cape Town to relocate 60 baboons to enclosure amid animal-rights backlash

Cape Town authorities have announced a plan to permanently transfer approximately 60 chacma baboons from two troops near Simon’s Town to a newly built Urban Wildlife Centre, presenting the move as a humane alternative to lethal control. The proposal has ignited a fierce dispute with animal-rights advocates, who contend that long-term captivity is unsuitable for wild animals. Chad Cupido of Beauty Without Cruelty South Africa emphasized the need for coexistence, while local resident Sue-Anne Norton, who regularly feeds the baboons, rejected the idea of caging them.

The baboons, some reaching a meter in height and 45 kg, increasingly infiltrate residential areas in search of food, damaging property and confronting people and pets. In response, the city is deploying 6,000 specially designed trash containers and erecting fences to deter the primates. Opponents argue that the conflict results from the city’s expansion into baboon territory, noting that the Cape Peninsula’s baboon population has risen from roughly 360 to close to 600.