PICS: Baboon Bruce is safely away from city… but it wasn’t easy
This week, I travelled with Claw to the rehabilitation centre, Prime Crew in Limpopo, which will ultimately release Bruce.
Bruce the baboon examines the holding facility at Prime CREW primate rehabilitation centre in Limpopo, 30 July 2019, after being captured and relocated from Johannesburg. Picture: Michel Bega
Over the past few weeks, many Joburgers have been captivated by the story of a wild baboon running loose through the streets of Constantia Kloof, Florida, Northcliff and surrounding areas.
An image of the primate sitting on a koppie above the Checkers Hypermarket in Constantia Kloof went viral on social media on July 15. A few days later, video footage of him swinging between the steel roof trusses of the Northcliff Corner shopping centre, then scaling walls and crossing rooftops of Northcliff suburbia, also went viral.
He was nicknamed “Bruce the baboon” on social media.
As explained by Cora Bailey, of Community Led Animal Welfare (Claw), the baboon is a dispersing male, who has left his troop in search of a new troop, but instead encountered the concrete jungle.
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- Bruce the baboon looks out from its transportation cage as it arrives at the Prime CREW primate rehabilitation centre, 30 July 2019. Picture: Michel Bega
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- Claw volunteers move a baboon trap down a hill in Constantia Kloof in January last year. The trap was intended to catch Houdini, who was never captured. Picture: Michel Bega
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- Prime CREW staff carry the transportation cage towards the holding facility, 30 July 2019. Bruce will be monitored for approximately a week before being released into the larger enclosure seen in the background. Picture: Michel Bega
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- The baboon is fed through the bottom of it’s cage before being transported to Prime CREW in Limpopo, 30 July 2019. Picture: Michel Bega
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- Bruce the baboon examines the holding facility at Prime CREW primate rehabilitation centre in Limpopo, 30 July 2019, after being captured and relocated from Johannesburg. He will be assessed and monitored here for a week before being released into a larger enclosure with plans to reintroduce him into the while. Picture: Michel Bega
With no real wildlife corridors, wild animals will continue to have run-ins with cities, Bailey believes.
I first started documenting Claw’s attempts to capture a baboon that had wandered into the same suburbs last January, nicknamed Houdini.
Trying to catch a baboon is not easy.
Claw uses baited cages, hoping to lure a baboon into a trap – often in places where baboons have visited often, such as vegetable gardens.
A member of the public can report a sighting in their street, but a baboon can travel several kilometres each day. And built-up cities mean it’s almost impossible to track them through walled gardens and gated communities.
Despite spending many hours searching for Houdini, I never saw him. Although volunteers moved the heavy traps to numerous locations around the West Rand, he eventually disappeared. Bailey believes he was shot.
While trying to capture Bruce, Bailey recounts how she received a number of calls from hunters offering to shoot the primate.
Though smart enough to evade the traps at first, the baboon eventually fell for the temptations of a basket of tasty mielies and bananas.
My first encounter with him was at Claw’s clinic in Durban Deep last Sunday. Peering out of the cage he looked defeated and dejected. In his rage, he had injured himself.
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- Bruce the baboon takes his time to eat a slice of white bread upon release in the holding facility, 30 July 2019. He was quick to eat some of the food provided which included eggs and apples. Picture: Michel Bega
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- A young baboon is seen peering out from an enclosure at Prime CREW, 30 July 2019. Picture: Michel Bega
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- A porcupine runs away after being released from a baboon trap in which it was accidentally caught overnight just outside a property in Helderkruin, in February last year. The trap was situated near a vegetable garden with views overlooking the Little Falls Pleasure Resort. Picture: Michel Bega
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- Claw founder Cora Bailey treats a dog at the Claw clinic in Durban Deep Roodepoort after it was poisoned with Two Step, 28 July 2019. Claw provides community based primary veterinary care in South Africa. Picture: Michel Bega
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- A capuchin monkey is seen at the primate rehab centre, 30 July 2019. The facility is dedicated to the care of abandoned and abused exotic wildlife and the rehabilitation and reintroduction of indigenous primates. Picture: Michel Bega
This week, I travelled with Claw to the rehabilitation centre, Prime CREW in Limpopo, which will ultimately release him.
While transferring the transport cage from one vehicle to another, I watched as he slammed his shoulder against the cage door with incredible power in an effort to escape.
Eventually, though, he settled down, taking an interest in the baboons at the facility.
Soon, Bruce will be relocated to the wild, far away from the dangers of suburbia – and us.
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