A REDCLIFF resident has flagged a move by the local authority and Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Parks Authority) to poison troublesome baboons that have descended on the mining town.
Obert Chinhamo has since written to Parks Authority and the Redcliff Municipality expressing concern over the culling of baboons using poison.
In the letter addressed to Parks Authority, Chinhamo expressed alarm and disbelief at reports that the wildlife authority and the municipality are using a poisonous substance to kill baboons in the area.
“If these reports are accurate, I strongly urge you to immediately halt this practice and seek alternative, non-lethal methods of managing the baboon population,” he said.
“Poisoning, as a means of controlling animal populations, demonstrates a lack of imagination and compassion on the part of the Parks Authority and the municipality, suggesting that you have exhausted all other possible alternatives.”
He said the approach was not only ineffective in the long term, but brought into question their commitment to ethical and sustainable wildlife management practices.
“In addition to the egregious use of poison, any act of violence against these sentient creatures is utterly unconscionable,” he said.
“I demand that the (Parks Authority) and the Municipality of Redcliff immediately cease this inhumane and harmful practice, before any further damage is inflicted on the baboon population.”
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Redcliff mayor Shangwa Masiiwa said council was not responsible for the exercise.
“Residents complained about the baboons which were entering their homes, taking food and putting their lives at risk, so, we raised this with (Parks Authority), which did some awareness campaigns,” he said.
Masiiwa said the authorities had three options, that is, shooting, poisoning or caging the baboons.
In response, Parks Authority spokesperson Tinashe Farawo yesterday acknowledged the challenge with baboons in Redcliff, adding that they were instituting problem-animal control mechanisms.
“The baboons are causing a lot of problems and we have been doing a lot of awareness in that community. Primarily, the biggest challenge that we are having is people who are feeding the baboons because what is attracting them into the communities is food and also poor waste management by the municipality.
“And we are encouraging the municipality to ensure that at least they also practise proper waste management practices in order to deal with this problem,” he said.
Farawo said communities were also aware of the human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe.
He acknowledged Chinhamo’s petition circulating on social media.
“What we are simply doing is within the law because when there is problem-animal control, there are various methods that we use.
“One, we also ensure that we catch the animals, capture them, we release them in the wild. But it is a process and it is expensive and in some cases it is not effective because sometimes you can only capture the small baboons.
“The troop leaders will not be attracted into those cages. It’s also another challenge. There are also other methods that we use to ensure that we deter the baboons like shooting in the air.”
