Visiting a Refuge for Baboons in South Africa

Carolyn Bocian, primatologist and IPPL member; photos courtesy Linda Barnes
April 2007

Rita Miljo and I first met at the IPPL Members’ Meeting in March 2006. As attendees will remember, Rita gave an incredible presentation about South Africa’s baboons and the rehabilitation center she established there in 1989. The Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education (C.A.R.E., online at www. primatecare.org.za) takes in injured native wildlife—mainly chacma baboons (Papio ursinus), since they are persecuted as “vermin” under South African law.

While traveling in South Africa last August, my partner and I had a chance to spend several days at C.A.R.E. with Rita, her project manager Lee, and her staff and volunteers. The center is in Limpopo Province, on the banks of the Olifants River, along the western edge of Kruger National Park. As soon as we arrived at the lovely little airport in Phalaborwa, we were swept away by Rita and Lee’s hospitality and by the beauty of South Africa’s bushveldt. Although I was regretting that we wouldn’t have time to go into Kruger, I soon realized that we were seeing more wildlife from the porch of our “bush cottage” than we would ever see in the national park! In two and a half days we saw baboons, vervet monkeys, elephants, giraffe, impala, waterbuck, warthogs, a hippo—and a very large crocodile. This is why Rita came to “fetch” us, to walk with us along the river from our cottage to her place: she had no desire to see one of her guests become dinner for a hungry croc!

Following Rita, we walked among the members of the “Longtit Troop,” a sprawling assemblage of wild baboons living on the edge of her property. Next we met the hardworking volunteers, many of whom were college students, who had the job of caring for and socializing the baboon infants and kids. Each volunteer “foster mother” had at least one baboon baby wrapped around her waist or riding on her head. Since these infants are only a few weeks or a few months old when they arrive at C.A.R.E., they require the 24-hour security of a foster mother (some of whom are actually foster fathers!).

It was then that I began to recall some of the details of Rita’s IPPL presentation. These animals had all been rescued from some type of horrible situation, usually a baby clinging to the body of its dead mother, who had been shot or poisoned by a farmer or rancher. C.A.R.E. is home to over 200 baboons. Fourteen of them will be permanent residents, having been rescued from a biomedical research facility where they were experimental “subjects.”

But it isn’t Rita’s desire to keep all the animals here for the rest of their lives. Rather, she is forming social groups for release into protected areas. Two groups have already been released. One release was a huge success, in that the baboons from C.A.R.E. and the local wild baboons mutually accepted each other. The second released troop, although successful themselves in adapting to their new home, were treated as “vermin” by their human neighbors. Some animals died after eating poisoned grain (given them by a nearby farm laborer), at least one adult male was confirmed dead by shooting, and several animals from the troop went missing. Rita’s pleas to the authorities to protect these baboons were denied; she was ordered to recapture the remaining troop members and take them back into captivity at C.A.R.E.

But Rita continues fighting for her baboons. Thanks to the expertise of Rita, Lee, and their staff, a little one with a snare injury was on the road to recovery. This is nothing short of amazing, since the animal was from a wild troop and had to be darted, then transported to a vet for treatment, then brought back to live in Rita’s living room while undergoing antibiotic treatment. And yet, on our last day at C.A.R.E., we saw that the swelling in his wrist was going down: Rita’s intervention was working! The little baboon could soon be returned to his troop.

Just as we were saying goodbye to the staff and the baboons, I heard a ruckus in one of the enclosures, followed by the unmistakable loud call of a blue monkey! I looked with surprise at Rita. She laughed and reminded me that South Africa is also home to samango monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis labiatus), a subspecies of the blue monkey. These samango monkeys had come to C.A.R.E. for the same reasons as the baboons. Rita had supervised their formation into a social group, and has now located a suitable site for their release. Her success with rehabilitating samango monkeys is just as significant as her success with chacma baboons. As a subspecies, the samango is classified as endangered on IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. It is endemic to South Africa, restricted to montane or coastal forest in only three of the country’s provinces, and threatened by ongoing habitat loss and degradation.

Rita’s story is powerful testimony to what one person can accomplish, but her work is never done. As we prepared to leave Phalaborwa, Rita showed us the electrified fencing she was installing around the perimeter of her baboon enclosures—to keep out the elephants who had begun tearing down baboon cages at night. Why is this happening? Take a look at a detailed map of South Africa, and you’ll see an abundance of “game reserves,” especially in areas adjacent to the national parks. Many of these reserves are privately-owned establishments visited by hunters from all over the world who have come to shoot wildlife—including elephants. Stressed beyond belief, after decades of trauma, are they now fighting for their survival? And will we some day see baboons in the same situation?

IPPL helps C.A.R.E. for baboons IPPL has been helping C.A.R.E. with small grants for several years. Those members who attended IPPL’s 2006 conference or read our report on the meeting in IPPL News (June 2006, page 3), will remember the remarkable Rita Miljo. Her talk was interrupted several times by applause from the appreciative audience. Donations flow freely to help gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans, but commoner primate species get very little attention. These monkey species who so often fall below the radar may end up on the endangered list if subjected to human persecution and ignored by the animal protection community. Baboons are fascinating animals who love life no less than other primates, including human primates!