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Two stowaway baboons believed to have hitched a ride on a ship from Cape Town to Durban this week have been rescued.
Facebook/Clint Halkett-Siddall
- Two baboons - a male and female named Willie and Nonna - were safely captured and taken to the Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife after stowing away on a ship.
- The rescue involved setting a trap after Willie was spotted in Malvern in Durban.
- Both baboons are undergoing veterinary care and DNA testing before being sent to a rehabilitation centre for eventual release into the wild.
The Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) has rescued and contained two stowaway baboons believed to have hitched a ride on a ship from Cape Town to Durban this week.
The two baboons - a male and female, now named Willie and Nonna - were rescued in Durban.
CROW operations director Clint Halkett-Siddall explained that until the sighting of Willie was confirmed, it was initially thought that only Nonna had emerged from the ship.
“We decided to safely and professionally contain the curious baboons. Initially, we thought it was just one baboon coming off the ship, but it turned out to be two,” Halkett-Siddall said.
The rescued baboons are receiving veterinary care.
He explained:
On Wednesday, at about 02:00, we managed to capture the female (Nonna). She stayed with us overnight for an initial assessment, but the next day, we decided to take her to the vet for a full check-up.
“As we arrived at the vet, our team was alerted to another sighting of the second baboon (Willie) in the Malvern area, but the trail went cold.”
The team persisted and followed reports, eventually tracing Willie to a residential complex in Malvern.
He added:
Luckily, we managed to locate the warehouse mentioned in the report, but by then, the baboon was gone. We decided to follow a local monkey troop, which led us to a residential complex in the area.
The rescue team arrived at the complex and set up a trap to capture Willie.
“They kept the other monkeys away from the delicious treats we’d placed in the trap. The baboon found them irresistible and walked straight into the trap! We successfully secured him,” Halkett-Siddall said, adding that Willie was then taken to the vet for a complete health check.
DNA samples have also been collected from the baboons to help determine their place of origin.
READ | Hitching bushbaby gets one-way ticket home to his Joburg family after Cape Town escapade
According to Halkett-Siddall, CROW will keep the baboons temporarily while awaiting the necessary export permits.
“Once we receive our export permits, they will be sent to a baboon specialist rehabilitation centre. There, they’ll be introduced to a new troop before being released back into the wild, where they belong,” he said.
