Baboons terrorise Victoria Falls residents

Richard Muponde
TROOPS of baboons have caused havoc in the resort town of Victoria Falls where they are raiding homes for food.
The troops of baboons are also said to have been causing problems for pupils during break time, especially at Baobab Primary School where they grab food from pupils in the play grounds.
Authorities at the school have had to enlist the services of a guard to keep the baboons away. The baboons have reportedly become a menace to the extent that calls are getting loud for authorities to act on the problem before they maim residents.

They are said to raid houses especially in the low density areas where they jump into houses through open windows despite the presence of people in the homes. A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said they mainly target women and children on their way from the shops.

“It’s now dangerous to carry groceries from the shops to our homes. They now lay an ambush for children and women carrying goods from town. We now fear their aggressive behaviour as they could soon injure people if they are not controlled,” she said.

Efforts to get a comment from Zimparks public relations manager Ms Caroline Washaya-Moyo were fruitless.
However, Victoria Falls residents’ association chairman Mr Morgan Gaza Dube confirmed the problem and said the behaviour of the baboons was cultivated by residents and tourists who feed them.

“Victoria Falls is situated between two national parks Chamabondo and Zambezi and as such we live side by side with these wild animals. If you feed these baboons they behave like pets, next time they will come back to you to be fed.

We have tourists around who when they see them feed them and that’s when the problem starts,” said Mr Dube.
He discouraged residents from feeding the animals.

“Once they do that if they see anyone carrying groceries they expect to be fed and they get that food at any cost. The same happens when they raid houses as they would have seen people getting in there with the groceries. In Vic Falls we can’t kill them but we have to co-exist with them unless if they become very aggressive. We will always protect our people from aggressive animals,” he said.

Baboons previously terrorised residents of the mining town of Hwange, leading to the Local Board enlisting the services of a professional hunter to kill them.