Victoria Falls baboons wreak havoc

 Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

BABOONS are causing havoc in Victoria Falls where they have developed a habit of ambushing people and snatching food from them.

They have become violent and charge at anyone carrying food.

While the presence of baboons is not unusual in border towns and ports of entry such as Victoria Falls including Kazungula, Beitbridge and Chirundu, lately they have been vicious as they enter shops and houses to steal food.

The behaviour is probably triggered by hunger as they cannot find fast-food leftovers in rubbish bins which are always empty because of lack of tourism activity and restricted operation of restaurants.

While elsewhere baboons feed on wild fruits in the forest, Victoria Falls and other border towns’ baboons have developed a liking for homemade food and leftovers from restaurants hence they move around emptying bins as they scavenge for leftovers.

However, baboons now enter houses and shops to steal food.

A few days ago a baboon caused a stir when it entered OK Supermarket and stole a packet of chips.

It attempted to go in through the front door but was chased away. Undeterred, it returned to enter through the roof and jumped into the shop through the ceiling, leaving shoppers shocked.

The baboons have reportedly been breaking windows to gain entry into shops.

A news crew has been observing baboons scavenging for food in bins which they empty thereby polluting the area.

Some move in troops while others attack as individuals.

The central business district is the worst affected.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, some residents said the baboons had turned Victoria Falls into a war zone.

“We clean baboon poo in the office almost every day. I think they had mastered the lockdown business hours and would enter the shops once people knock off. Lately they have been breaking into shops even in the presence of people. They broke two window panes into our shop and have been sneaking inside and mess around before entering the ceiling. Sometimes we see them peeping inside wanting to come in,” said an employee at one of the shops.

Residents have appealed to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) to drive the baboons away.

They said it’s now risky to move around carrying food as the baboons can differentiate plastic bags from food outlets from those from other shops.

Residents said women have fallen victim to the menacing baboons more than men.

Recently some baboons ambushed three women who were carrying some groceries forcing them to seek refuge at the ZimParks town office.

“Some now camp in front of Chicken Inn or OK shops and snatch whatever they see people carrying. One baboon recently caused a stir when it entered OK shop, went on top of a butchery fridge before jumping onto a nearby shelf where it snatched a packet of chips and fled. On another day they charged at a man who had just bought two pies and he threw them down as he fled,” said a source.

Tourism operators fear the baboons will harass tourists if they are not driven away.

“Baboons have become a real menace in town because companies are closed and there is no food in rubbish bins.

These problem animals may continue to harass people when tourism opens as this is their new behaviour hence we implore national parks to capture them and migrate them elsewhere,” said tourism executive Mr Clement Mukwasi.

Councillor Netsai Shoko whose Ward 2 covers the central business district said the situation has gone out of hand.
She implored ZimParks to drive away the animals.

“The baboons are now roaming freely and terrorising residents and school children from whom they also snatch school bags. “People can’t freely walk around carrying groceries. Last week we rescued a small boy in Chinotimba as baboons charged at him because he was carrying some food. They get into yards and sneak into houses where they open fridges and cupboards to steal food. Nearly everyone is complaining about the baboons and ZimParks has to do something,” said Clr Shoko.

Even rural communities are also affected.

Chief Whange said some villagers in Kasibo are staring hunger after their maize crops were eaten by marauding baboons.

“We have a serious problem of baboons. They are too many and we have reported to rangers who drove them away but they have come back. People were expecting a bumper harvest but their fields have been destroyed,” he said. — @ncubeleon

Source: Victoria Falls baboons wreak havoc (08/03/21)

Baboons switch off Vic Falls power

 Victoria Falls: Residents and businesses endured almost four hours of a power cut Monday afternoon after a troop of baboons tampered with ZESA infrastructure at the town’s main substation, causing power to trip.

The blackout also affected water supply as the resort town’s water is pumped directly from the pump station to users since there is no reservoir.

Some shops, including TM Pick n Pay were also caught unawares and forced to close before 3pm, probably because they had no standby generators or fuel.

Under lockdown regulations announced recently, businesses are permitted to open between 9am and 3pm.

After months of uninterrupted electricity, residents were shocked to find they had been switched off just after 12 noon, leaving the whole of Victoria Falls town including residential areas, central business district (CBD) and industrial area without supply.

This was after one of the baboons got trapped at a substation along Pioneer road in the industrial area. It was not clear if the mammal was electrocuted.

Power was restored at 4pm.

In statement, Zesa Victoria Falls office manager Nhlanhla Mkwananzi said the baboons had caused damage to sections of the premises.

“We (ZEDTC) have a fault at our substation caused by baboons and some equipment damages incurred. Work to restore supplies is in progress,” he said.

Sources said a baboon was in near electric shock as it got trapped thereby causing power to trip.

This is not the first time baboons have tampered with electricity infrastructure at the same Zesa property.

A similar incident occurred in 2015 when a baboon touched a live wire and got injured by an electric shock resulting in a three-hour power blackout.

The agitated troop blocked Zesa electricians from accessing the substation to restore electricity.

It also charged at people as it temporarily blocked Pioneer road to protect its member that lay motionless for some time after the electric shock.

Zimparks rangers were called in to disperse the troop after which electricians restored power.

A fortnight ago, a section of another Zesa substation in the resort town was partly burnt and it was suspected that baboons had tampered with the wires.

While baboons’ presence is not new or unusual in Victoria Falls streets, the wild animals have, since the start of lockdown, been freely roaming around without disturbance by humans who are largely locked indoors.

Closed offices have been noted to be characterised by baboons poo, with the species that is known for scavenging for food left-overs in bins and sometimes stealing from cars and houses, resorting back to nature and eating pods from jacaranda trees in town because of lack of food owing to limited human activity and closure of shops and restaurants.

Source: Baboons switch off Vic Falls residents, business (04/08/20)

Baboon causes power cut in Livingstone, Zambia

A baboon in Zambia has tampered with the cables at a power station in the south of the country leaving 50,000 people without electricity.

It caused the blackout on Sunday morning by climbing into the power station and pulling at the lines.

The baboon survived the "massive electric shock" that would have killed a human being, a power company spokesman said.

A person would also have been prosecuted, Henry Kapata added.

The baboon was rescued by a wildlife organisation and is now recovering but has "serious wounds", he told the BBC.

The power station is in the Zambian tourist city of Livingstone, where it is common for wild animals to be roaming around as it near a national park, the BBC's Kennedy Gondwe says.

Electricity has now been restored to the affected customers in Livingstone and the nearby Western Province.

In a similar incident last year, a monkey caused a nationwide power outage in Kenya.

Source: Zambia baboon causes power cut in Livingstone (17/07/17)

More from this blog: Baboons

Baboons a menace in Vic Falls

Victoria Falls  residents are living in fear as a troop of baboons have caused havoc by continuously raiding their homes for food. 

The troops of baboons are also said to have been causing problems for pupils during break time, especially at Baobab Primary School where they grab food from pupils in the play grounds.

Bulawayo based Sunday News said authorities at the school have had to enlist the services of a guard to keep the baboons away.

The baboons have reportedly become a menace to the extent that calls are getting loud for authorities to act on the problem before they maim residents.

The publication said baboon raids are more pronounced in the low density areas where they jump into houses through open windows despite the presence of people in the homes.

So grave is the situation that residents are scared to carry groceries in the open.

"It's now dangerous to carry groceries from the shops to our homes. They now lay an ambush for children and women carrying goods from town. We now fear their aggressive behaviour as they could soon injure people if they are not controlled," the paper quoted an unnamed female source.

Victoria Falls residents' association chairman Mr Morgan Gaza Dube blamed the issue on residents and tourists who feed the baboons.

"Victoria Falls is situated between two national parks Chamabondo and Zambezi and as such we live side by side with these wild animals. If you feed these baboons they behave like pets, next time they will come back to you to be fed.

"We have tourists around who when they see them feed them and that's when the problem starts," said Mr Dube.

"Once they do that if they see anyone carrying groceries they expect to be fed and they get that food at any cost. 

"The same happens when they raid houses as they would have seen people getting in there with the groceries. In Vic Falls we can't kill them but we have to co-exist with them unless if they become very aggressive. We will always protect our people from aggressive animals," he said.


Source: Baboons a menace in Vic Falls (03/01/16)