The SPCA had to euthanise another male baboon from a Simon’s Town troop on Monday, the second in a short span of a week.
The animal welfare organisation broke the news of having to euthanise a well-known adult male baboon from the Smitswinkel Troop known as Van Damme (WF9) due to serious welfare concerns last week.
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This week, an adult male baboon from the neighbouring Waterfall Troop, known as Nomahlehle (WF8), was admitted to the SPCA having been blinded in both eyes by what is suspected of having been a pepper round fired into his face at close range.
Nomahlehle received immediate and extensive expert assessment and medical care at the SPCA’s wildlife care facility in Grassy Park. Three veterinarians examined him over the space of three days.
An expert Cape Town veterinary ophthalmologist was called in for an assessment on Monday, 27 February 2023, which confirmed that Nomahlehle would never recover vision in his right eye and even with invasive treatment, would not likely recover much vision in his left eye.
“The SPCA, as the country’s oldest animal welfare organisation, has always been at the forefront of ensuring the humane treatment of all animals. When we are forced into making unpopular decisions to ensure that an animal is not suffering, we get lambasted by members of the public for doing the dirty work that no one else is prepared to do,” commented SPCA Wildlife Department Supervisor Jon Friedman.
The SPCA reminds the public that they are an independent entity bound by the precepts of the Animals Protection Act, which ensures that all animals have the right to a pain-free and dignified existence and where that is not possible, to be spared any ongoing suffering.
According to the animal welfare organisation, Nomahlele’s overall poor body condition was symptomatic of a life lived on the urban edge. He suffered from severe dental disease, including a broken, infected canine tooth, a large abscess in his mouth and several smaller mouth ulcers.
Like most baboons treated by the SPCA, Nomahlehle was also riddled with lead pellets that had been fired at him over the course of his life. As many as 22 penetrating pellets were counted in his body, a record number in recent history.
“We are frankly sickened at having to once again euthanise a baboon that has suffered at the hands of people in the community alongside its natural home range while merely trying to exist as he and his kind have done for eons. That a community finds itself in conflict with baboons because they cannot mind their food waste and remove other food attractants, should not be at the expense of our fast-disappearing biodiversity, of which baboons are an integral part,” said SPCA Chief Inspector Jaco Pieterse.
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Picture: The Cape of Good Hope SPCA / Facebook