GOOD
NEWS NEWS
7
6 June 2017
Baboon virtual fence gets off to a shaky start By Sarah Taylor
R
esidents will need to be patient with marauding baboons for now, as there is no quick-and-easy solution to preventing them from entering residential areas of Hermanus and coming into conflict with humans. This is clear after the first field test last month of the virtual fence equipment intended to keep the baboons in the mountains. The endeavour highlighted a number of issues that must be resolved first before the project can be implemented properly. Ward 3 Councillor Kari Brice says these issues include sourcing additional once-off funding from the community of at least R100 000 to fit GPS collars on two members of the Vogelgat troop (so far only two baboons have been collared from the Fernkloof troop) and to pay for the erection of at least three more relay stations along the mountain ridge, three more sound boxes and remote controls, and a week of training. The field test, while successful in chasing off the Fernkloof troop temporarily, also highlighted the need for ongoing funding to pay at least one permanent, energetic person to deploy the system, which involves “rockrabbitting into the mountain”, says Kari, while more volunteers from the community are also needed. “We have decided to put the activation of the virtual fence on hold for now,” says Kari. “We have realised we need to collar two baboons from the Vogelgat troop, which is entering Voëlklip from the eastern edge of town. If we don’t collar the alpha baboons from the Vogelgat troop, they will just take over from the Fernkloof troop, which currently dominates most of Voëlklip, Hermanus Heights, Eastcliff and Fernkloof. “We also realise that this cannot be a volunteer-run project only, as the initial stages of implementing the virtual fence are time-consuming and physically demanding and we need to find money from the community to sustain it. Only then can we start with the proper training of a proposed staff member and the volunteers. We would ideally like to get at least two volunteers in each of the troops’
zones (eastern and western Voëlklip). In the meantime, we are monitoring the movements of the Fernkloof troop to see where they go but we won’t initiate training or activate the virtual fence again until everything is in place or we will create a ‘cry wolf’ situation. So the baboons will run riot for now and it is frustrating, I know, as we all want to see this system working, but we just have to be patient.” The system is a result of Ward 3 residents voting in March last year for the virtual fence concept after the Overstrand Municipality disbanded the Hermanus baboon management team in 2015 as this was an unbudgeted-for cost. Kari, spurred on by the concerns of her constituents, subsequently set about procuring the R100 000 funding for the system from individual sponsors, organisations and businesses in Hermanus, including the Hermanus Ratepayers’ Association and Hermanus Public Protection. This was to cover the costs of erecting relay stations on the mountain, fitting GPS collars on two baboons from the Fernkloof troop and for three sound-and-pyrotechnic boxes, which will be used to establish the line of a mobile virtual fence. However, after last month’s first field test conducted by staff members of Human Wildlife Solutions (HWS) – the Cape Town company which has developed the system that is operating in Gordon’s Bay – it was clear that the volunteers had not realised the extent of physical effort and time initially involved in the task at hand. Byron Loubser and Abel Takalani from HWS spent two days in Hermanus testing the system and providing training on setting up the virtual fence to the three volunteers. It was also an opportunity for the volunteers to learn more about the baboons’ movements and patterns of behaviour and to see how they reacted to the activation of the fence. The HWS system kicks off when the collared baboons come within range of the relay stations set up along the ridge of the mountain behind town. Electronic alerts with the baboons’ GPS co-ordinates are sent to those tasked with monitoring the baboons via
computer or cellphone, so that they can head to the area and strategically set up three boxes with bear bangers (loud pyrotechnic crackers) and speakers emitting frightening animal sounds (such as lion roars and buffalo in distress) to create a “landscape of fear” – the virtual fence – for the baboons and chase them into the mountains.
Abel Takalani (far left) and Byron Loubser (far right) from Human Wildlife Solutions with volunteers Angus McFadzean, Dirk Oosthuizen and Adam Barnard during the first field test of the virtual fence in Fernkloof Nature Reserve. In front are two of the sound-andpyrotechnic boxes which will be used to create a ‘landscape of fear’ in the minds of the baboons and keep them out of urban areas. PHOTOS: Sarah Taylor
ABOVE: Abel Takalani from Human Wildlife Solutions on Kanonkop in Fernkloof Nature Reserve on a field test to determine the correct position from which to deploy one of the soundand-pyrotechnic boxes to chase the Fernkloof baboon troop deeper into the mountains, away from Hermanus.
The volunteers had initially understood they could drive the sound-and-pyrotechnic boxes to the edges of suburbia, close to where the baboons were headed, and set them off from there. After deploying the boxes a few times, they understood that the baboons would learn that it was not safe to cross this virtual boundary into urban areas and would stay in the mountains and forage for food there. What is required, however, says Byron, is “to create more of a buffer between the baboons and the urban areas and the only way to do this is to get into the mountains and set off the three boxes there, in a line, with about 100m distance between each”. If there is no such buffer, it is easier for the baboons to get around the virtual fence and enter suburbia and its rich pickings of food. This would need to be done consistently a few times for the baboons to become fearful of entering suburbia. The steep, rocky terrain behind Hermanus makes this exercise difficult, especially off the footpaths in Fernkloof Nature Reserve, with the baboons definitely having the physical advantage.
LEFT: Some of the members of the Fernkloof baboon troop entering the urban edge above Voëlklip, where it’s easy pickings to find food from houses and gardens.
The Gordon’s Bay baboons have been simpler to control, says Abel, as there is one main route that they follow from the mountains into town, while the two main troops that enter Hermanus have many entry points across a more extended geographic area. The Gordon’s Bay virtual fence, funded by the City of Cape Town and run by paid staff, has been hailed as a success, with HWS Project Manager Dr Phil Richardson saying “it has been 100% effective in keeping the troop out of town”.
- Donations for the virtual fence project can be made into the following bank account: Baboon Op Standard Bank Acc: 242748619 Ref: A04394 For more information, contact Kari Brice on 083 650 4206.
It is hoped that once in operation, the virtual fence system will protect residential properties from raiding baboons, while also making the baboons’ lives safer by keeping them away from humans and the associated dangers of being run over by cars, poisoned or shot at, as has happened in the not-so-recent past.