Complaints have been received from residents in Glenwood, Eden and lately at Mount View Resort in York Street. The systematic axing of the black wattle trees in which the blue vervet monkeys used to live in the Rooirivierrif wetlands, have left them without a habitat. Becoming increasingly bolder, they are causing havoc by raiding nearby homes for food. Troops have been seen crossing through the busy traffic in York Street to make their way to the suburb of Bos en Dal.
At the Mount View Resort which borders the wetlands area, owner Frik Labuschagne feels that the increasing raids on homes within his resort is becoming problematic. Calls to Cape Nature have not yielded any results. "We were basically told that there is nothing they can do. So I am now hoping for some expert advice."
Receptionists who live on the resort, Anneke Barnard and Ronel Middleton, both of whom have small children, said the vervet monkeys are quite cunning, rather like proper burglars.
"They get the smallest ones to climb through the burglar bars and then they pass food to the bigger ones. The small ones look rather cute, but we are afraid of the bigger males who show their teeth and are aggressive.
"When we try to shoo them away, they merely carry on raiding the dustbins," said the two women who have taken the initiative to post signs all over the resort, warning holiday makers not to feed them, because this will compound the problem.
Radie Loubser of George Municipality’s parks department says the Rooirivierrif area is being cleared of black wattle trees as part of the Working for Water Gwaiing River Health Project. He referred to the municipality’s successful planting of trees in the Bergsig/Kat River area where bush buck, wild boar and all sorts of fauna have returned, saying that if funds would be made available, the Rooirivierrif could be planted up to be as lush as at the Kat River.
* An Eden woman and her daughter were trapped in their double storey home recently when three baboons sneaked in to grab food from the kitchen.
"We were upstairs when we heard the commotion and were too afraid to come down.
We called the police, but after the baboons fled, the place was an absolute mess."
* CapeNature communication manager, Marietjie Engelbrecht said home owners are advised not to leave dog food out, and to ensure that their dustbins cannot easily be opened as this easy source of food attracts them. "Preferably keep food sources away from monkeys and baboons."
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Let’s go bowling ... a troop of vervet monkeys gather in front of the restaurant and bowling alley at Mount View Resort where they have been making a nuisance of themselves by jumping on cars. They were obviously attracted to the fruit on this 200-year-old fig tree. It remains to be seen if they will acquire a taste for Italian cuisine, and of course - whether they will pay their bill!
ARTICLE: PAULINE LOURENS
