Cape Town - The alpha male baboon of the Smitswinkel Bay troop has died during a darting operation, described as routine, to replace the battery in the tracking collar that he was wearing.
The animal, known officially as SWB3 and unofficially as Force, was 11 years old.
In a statement on Monday, the Baboon Technical Team – the joint structure for managing baboons on the Cape Peninsula – said the animal had died on Saturday after not waking up after being darted.
It had been “routinely” darted to replace the battery on its VHF radio collar at noon under the supervision of a qualified veterinarian.
“Radio collars are worn by most alpha males, in order that rangers can monitor the movements of each troop. After the darting operation, the battery was changed and SWB3 was moved to the Westlake recovery unit.
“SWB3 did not wake up and his death was sadly confirmed late on Saturday. An urgent post-mortem is being conducted to ascertain the cause of death.”
City of Cape Town veterinarian Elzette Jordan said that, like humans having a full anaesthetic during a medical operation, there were risks to darting a baboon, “however small”.
“It had been noticed that SWB3 had lost weight over the past six months, but the darting was routine, the death unexpected and the community of baboon managers is deeply saddened by his passing,” she said.
Brett Glasby, head of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA’s wildlife unit, said they were aware of the incident and believed all care had been taken with the operation. “There is always an inherent risk when anaesthetising animals,” he said.
The Smitswinkel Bay baboon troop is one of the 11 managed troops on the Peninsula. - Cape Argus