Cape Town Plans to Relocate Baboon Troops Amid Rising Conflict With Residents

Cape Town's city council has said it will “imminently” round up two troops of chacma baboons that have been repeatedly coming into conflict with residents, according to The Guardian. The animals are to be sterilised and permanently relocated to a newly built sanctuary.

The plan has drawn sharp criticism from animal rights activists, who argue the baboons should be allowed to continue roaming freely and that less disruptive management options have not been fully explored, the report said.

Conflict between Cape Town residents and the city's baboon population has been building since the 2000s, after officials stopped culling troops in the late 1990s following public pressure. Tensions have escalated sharply over the past two years, according to the report.

A 2025 census cited by The Guardian found the baboon population had grown by about a third since 2000, rising from roughly 360 animals to 493, now living across 12 managed troops in the greater Cape Town area.

Residents have described the animals breaking into homes and shops in search of food, with one local quoted as saying it is “hard to sell a house when it's covered in baboon faeces.” Activists, however, maintain that coexistence with the baboons remains achievable with better management.

The council's relocation plan marks one of the more significant interventions in the long-running dispute, though it is not yet clear when the sterilisation and relocation process will begin or how the new sanctuary will be managed once the troops are moved.