One of the great privileges of living in the Crocodile River Reserve is sharing your space with free-roaming wildlife. But that privilege comes with responsibility — and occasionally, with challenges.

In recent months, we have received a number of complaints from residents and landowners about baboons and monkeys entering homes and yards in search of food. In response, we consulted with the Gauteng Department of Environment’s mammal experts and spoke with experienced wildlife practitioners who have worked with baboon troops in coastal communities across the Western Cape. Here is what we learned.

Why can’t we just relocate them?

This is the question we hear most often — and unfortunately the answer is not the one most people want to hear.

Capturing and relocating an entire troop is simply not possible. Baboons are highly intelligent, highly social animals. They recognise individuals, they remember places, and they learn quickly. Where would a relocated troop even go? And how would you catch all of them at once?

The reality is this: we will never be in a position of removing a troop from the Reserve. What we CAN do is manage the situation — and that responsibility lies primarily with landowners.

Why are they coming into our homes and yards?

Baboons and monkeys are opportunistic foragers. They are not coming into your space to cause trouble — they are coming because there is food available, or because they can SEE food, even through a window.

These animals play a vital ecological role in the Reserve. They assist with seed dispersal and environmental disturbance — functions that have become even more important in the absence of large herbivores. They belong here. But when they associate human spaces with food, conflict becomes inevitable.

The sobering truth, as one wildlife expert put it: “You can’t choose to have the cute antelope in your garden but not the nuisance baboon. They are both wild and they will both be in your garden.”

What can landowners do?

This problem must be approached from many angles — but the single most important factor is eliminating access to food and waste. If food is available, they will come back. Every time. Without exception.

Remove the temptation:

• Never put food out for monkeys, baboons or any other wildlife — including well-meaning feeding away from the house (this simply moves the problem, it does not solve it)
• Keep all food — including pet food — in cupboards, sealed containers or completely out of sight. If they can see it through a window, that is enough
• Secure your bins with locks, bungee cords, or purpose-made monkey-proof bin clips (widely available online)

Secure your home:

• Install heavy-duty mesh or burglar bars on windows you leave open
• Add mesh to security gates and keep them closed when doors are open
• Trim tree branches hanging close to your house or yard
• Consider motion-activated sprinklers as a deterrent
• Rubber snakes and water can also work as short-term deterrents
• A wide range of monkey-proofing products — from polycarbonate bars to specialist screens — are available online

What is NOT acceptable

We want to be unambiguous about this: shooting at baboons or monkeys with paintball guns, airsoft pellets, pellet guns or any other projectile is not an acceptable deterrent as these actions cause serious injury to animals and are prohibited under national and provincial conservation legislation, including:

• NEMBA (Section 57(1))
• NEMA
• Applicable municipal by-laws

Shooting at trees to scare animals is also not acceptable. If you witness any harm being caused to wildlife in the Reserve, please report it immediately.

A final word

The CRR is a declared protected area. Choosing to live here means choosing to share your space with wildlife — all of it, not just the species we find charming. Baboons and monkeys are part of the ecological fabric of this Reserve, and they deserve to be treated with respect.

With the right precautions in place, peaceful coexistence is absolutely possible. But it starts with us.

For more information or to report wildlife-related concerns, please contact the CRR management team.