Shark Spotters CEO challenges claims about Slangkop baboon troop numbers

Claims that the Slangkop baboon troop’s decline cannot be fully accounted for by recorded deaths, and that two Kommetjie females are “too urbanised” to return to the troop, have been refuted by Sarah Waries, CEO of Shark Spotters.

Waries said the troop declined by 15 individuals over an approximately 18-month period, from June 2024 to December last year, with 14 mortalities formally recorded during that time. These included cases where carcasses were recovered, animals euthanised by veterinarians due to illness or injury, as well as management-related deaths.

She said recorded mortalities reflected a range of causes, including direct human-related incidents such as vehicle collisions, indirect human-related causes like dog attacks, natural causes including infanticide, and cases where the precise cause could not be determined.

Addressing claims that census figures and mortality records do not align, Waries stressed that census data are snapshots taken at two points in time, while mortality records accumulate continuously between those dates.

“Census figures cannot be used to attribute deaths on a one-for-one basis between years,” she said, adding that changes in juvenile numbers reflect a combination of recorded and unrecorded mortalities, animals ageing into new classes, and births and deaths occurring between census counts.

Waries said it is also not possible to record every baboon death, as the animals range widely in mountainous and natural areas where rangers are required to keep a distance to allow natural foraging and movement. Deaths occurring away from roads or urban areas, or overnight at sleeping sites, may go unobserved and without carcass recovery.

She said the Slangkop troop experienced significant social instability over the past year, with repeated challenges for adult male dominance resulting in elevated levels of infanticide — a natural, though distressing, process in baboon societies during periods of male turnover.

While any baboon death linked to human activity was a serious concern, Waries said it was important to distinguish between anthropogenic causes and natural social processes. Infanticide, she said, is typically followed by increased reproductive activity and, with appropriate mitigation measures in place, can contribute to longer-term population stabilisation.

Waries also refuted claims that two adult females and their infants in Kommetjie were deliberately separated from the Slangkop troop or deemed “too urbanised” to return.

She said the females moved into Kommetjie as part of a natural fission or splintering event. Following the removal of two baboons in the area through management action, it was hoped the females would reintegrate with the main Slangkop troop, but this did not occur.

“The animals remained within the urban area, frequently using private properties that rangers could not enter, which significantly constrained efforts to guide them back,” she said.

In recent days, the females and their infants have moved out of Kommetjie and are now in close proximity to the Slangkop troop, spending time on its periphery.

“While they have not yet fully reintegrated, a gradual reintegration over the coming days or weeks is anticipated,” Waries said, noting that similar approaches have been used successfully in previous cases, including Da Gama Park.

However, community analysts say questions remain about how census totals align with age-and-sex tables and recorded mortality data.

“The figures presented for the Slangkop troop do not reconcile when the census totals, age-and-sex tables and recorded mortality data are read together,” said Carol Knox, a member of and researcher for Green Group.

“Until those inconsistencies are clearly explained, questions will remain about the accuracy of the data and the true scale of the troop’s decline,” Knox said.

Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel.

Cape Argus