Welfare organisations and residents have expressed their concern about the recent shootings of baboons and monkeys in the Kosmos area.

The young baboon had to be euthanised.

“Last Saturday afternoon, we rescued an injured juvenile male baboon from the Kosmos area that had been shot with an air gun. Sadly, it ended this young boy’s life prematurely. The pellet lodged itself in the centre of his spinal column and caused paralysis from the waist down. He had to be euthanised,” said Brendan Murray of the Owl Rescue Centre in Hartbeespoort.
“This is the third baboon rescue that we’ve done in this area for the same reason. We have also rescued many monkeys here that had been shot. It is an ever-growing problem we have in this area. People move out here to live among nature, and then decide they don’t particularly like nature, so they shoot and kill it,” Murray said.
The Kosmos Village Association (KVA) responded strongly, saying that incidents of this nature cannot be tolerated. “We in Kosmos Village value our baboons and monkeys. We are very unhappy with incidents such as this in our surrounding area. We ask residents to please report anyone shooting or harming our wildlife. We will act promptly. Shooting any projectile in a built-up area is a punishable offense and should be reported to the police,” said Ursula Marler of the KVA. “Adults, please put safety first and do not allow your children to use pellet guns unsupervised, and do not allow them to use them here in the neighbourhood at all,” she said.
The Owl Rescue Centre requests residents who are aware of shootings of wildlife or come across an injured animal to contact them at 082 719 5463. “Hopefully we’ll gather enough information to prosecute the shooters,” Murray said.