Cape Town – Beloved Kommetjie baboon Kataza is doing well since his arrival at the Riverside Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Limpopo on Friday.
The Cape of Good Hope SPCA applied for a permit to have Kataza relocated to the Riverside Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Limpopo on January 12, which was granted by CapeNature.
The relocation was the only option and in Kataza's best interest, the SPCA said last week, citing how he had continued to raid residential homes and failed to integrate with any of the baboon troops in his close vicinity.
“His life was in danger as he spent most of his time in the urban area. Residents threatened to harm and kill him, with an incident of gunshots fired at him reported to us,” the SPCA said.
The organisation's Jaco Pieterse said yesterday they were monitoring Kataza's journey.
“We have been advised that he was doing well and settling in. We wish Kataza the best life in his new home. He deserves to be happy and live a normal baboon life. We will be keeping a close eye on his new journey,” he said.
Riverside Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre chief executive Mias Venter said Kataza was in a safe place surrounded by people who care and have welcomed him with open arms.
“Our main focus now is to get him stabilised and settled. Now comes the next part in the journey to ensure that what happened to Kataza does not happen to one more baboon.
’’We, as Riverside, will not leave a single stone unturned in our quest to find permanent solutions for the current baboon management protocols, and as such call again on all the concerned citizens and animal groups to unite and assist in achieving this goal,” Venter said.
Baboon Solutions founder Terry Corr said Kataza was in good health and eating well since his arrival in Limpopo.
“He was very comfortable in his designed travel box. He arrived in Limpopo on Friday afternoon and was immediately put into his quarantine enclosure where he remains for the next 40 days.
’’Kataza is eating well. He is particularly favouring papaya – that's his favourite food right now. There are eight chacma baboons (Cape baboons) at Riverside centre in Limpopo and Kataza is now the ninth one,” he said.
Corr said it had been a long, hard road for Kataza and they still had many questions to be answered by the authorities regarding his journey.
“It was either Kataza went to Limpopo and spends his rest of his life in Riverside centre in a semi-wild enclosure in time, or he faced euthanasia,” he said.
Cape Times