Tourists who visit Cape Town and surrounding suburbs are warned to keep their car doors locked and windows closed as robberies have been reported in the area - by baboons.
It looks like a scene from a movie as the animals open car doors and jump through windows in order to steal food. They are not afraid if passengers are sitting in the cars they hop into. They have been seen climbing on car roofs and grabbing door handles, desperately looking for a way to gain entry.
Some people watching the action have been taken in by the 'old distraction ploy' as other baboons then break into their cars while they are not paying attention. A volunteer monitoring the activity reported, "We spent the whole day basically rescuing tourists."
With the World Cup scheduled in the city next year, officials are trying to contain the problem before it gets out of control. There are worries that incoming tourists will feed the primates, making them even bolder.
Fred, who is the leader of the baboons, and 29 other gang members, including Michael Jackson, have been seen breaking into unlocked cars. Baboons are social animals and travel in groups called troops. There are a total of 420 baboons in 17 troops that live on the border of Cape Town.
Protected under law, the animals are a growing nuisance that has spurred residents of nearby Simon's Town to request a gate be installed at the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Brochures would be handed out with instructions to take precautions if they see the baboons. While cute, it is stessed they are wild animals and not to be handled.
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Comments
HAHAHAHA. That really stinks, but it's hilarious! My grandfather once had baboons jump on his car and they ate the rubber off the windows... very strange!
When I first read the title I thought it said balloons robbing tourists and thought to myself, "Boy, that's a new one!" Baboons are infamous for this type of behavior. They're the equivalent of a gang in the hood. LOL! I remember the Baboons at the top of Gibraltar who pulled one lady's hair and damaged a guy's car.
They're such cute thieves, and not so little. I've had a few close encounters with primates myself. In India, the problem was rhesus monkeys coming into my room and looking for food. They were very bold and not to be messed with. In Indonesia, I was in a park where people were allowed to feed bananas to the monkeys. This is even more harrowing than feeding pigeons in St. Mark's Square in Venice. The monkeys would crawl up your legs, perch on your head and shoulders, and grab at your clothes. It was scary! Great story. I loved the photos.
Great story! I was in South Africa last year, and recall monkeys robbing food from people at the Durban waterfront, and stalking tourists who were eating outdoors. They look so cute, but they are very aggressive when it comes to food!
Ever since the movie the Omen I have always been kind of scared of these primates. I would not feed them.
Maybe they need baboon jail or a retraining facility.
We were fascinated with troops of baboons in South africa. They are so like humans. I watched the YouTube video. When will stupid humans learn not to feed wild animals?
Greedy little primates..they're almost human.
Cheers...
I can relate to Caitlin's comment. This happened to us at Great Adventure in New Jersey; they were all over the car and started picking off the (then) vinyl roof. It was surreal.
OH WOW!!!! LOL, crazy- the new breed is called cleptoons.
Those are hilarious. So much cooler than raccoons.
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