A chacma baboon called Kataza made headlines in 2020 after he raided homes in Cape Town, concerning some residents and irritating others. At one point he even found himself being the target of gunshots.
Following a petition from Cape Town residents, the Cape of Good Hope branch of the SPCA applied for a permit to have Kataza moved to the Riverside Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre in Limpopo.
Kataza’s difficulty seems to have stemmed from an inability to integrate with troops of baboons in Kommetjie and Slangkop, prompting him to make forays into the suburbs for food.
According to founder of Baboon Solutions, Terry Corr, it was touch and go for Kataza. “It was either Kataza went to Limpopo and spends the rest of his life in Riverside Centre in a semi-wild enclosure in time or he faced euthanasia.”
Kataza is said to be healthy and settling into his new home and will soon have a companion. Funds were successfully raised from the public and the Owl Rescue Centre enlisted pilots from an aviation group. Jacky, a 16-year-old female baboon, will be flown-up from East London to the Riverside Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre to be a mate for Kataza.