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.
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.
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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