CAPE TOWN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- A male baboon which had been raiding houses in South Africa's Cape Town since the latter part of last year was euthanized earlier Thursday, after months-long baboon-proof efforts by local community and rangers failed, said municipal authorities.

The baboon, which had raided houses in the city's southern coastal area Murdoch Valley and beyond, entered the urban area on more than 40 occasions between Oct. 1, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2021. And in this February alone, it entered houses on more than 10 occasions while residents were inside, the city authorities said in a statement, adding that a splinter group of females and juveniles started following the male baboon into the urban area over the past several weeks.

The local community had been engaged extensively to prevent the baboon from raiding their properties and had managed waste in order to deter the raiding, including a community-led initiative to provide free baboon-proofing waste bins to secure waste and reduce food attractants in the area, which did not succeed, the city authorities said.

Baboon rangers also tried to deter the male baboon from entering Murdoch Valley, but had very limited success, said the city authorities, adding that the baboon even had increasing and direct contact with residents after the above efforts were made.

Given the concerns of spreading COVID-19, safety of the baboon troop it belonged to and local residents, the city authorities then recommended CapeNature, an organization responsible for biodiversity conservation in the Western Cape province, and the national parks body, South African National Parks (SANParks), to euthanize the baboon.

The euthanasia was carried out by an independent veterinarian after CapeNature issued the permit, according to the authorities. Enditem

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