Raiding baboon to be euthanized
Baboon, notorious for robbing cars, mugging tourists, captured
Baboon Fred, notorious for robbing tourist parked cars and frightening visitors at a scenic Cape Town lookout, has been captured.
"The Baboon Operational Group had to make the difficult decision to euthanize a raiding baboon in the Smitswinkel Bay area, (who is) commonly known as Fred," the city of Cape Town said in a statement.
Fred, a brazen alpha male baboon had targeted cars with bags and visible food, but it was his ability to open closed car doors that surprised passersby along the scenic route to Cape Point.
"This baboons aggression levels had recently escalated to the point where the safety of tourists, motorists and other travelers along the road past Smitswinkel Bay was being threatened," the city said.
Authorities regularly warn tourists not to feed baboons because it encourages aggressive behavior.
In 2010, Fred physically attacked and injured three people and two of them required medical attention.
"Attempts to use monitors to thwart his raids were only initially successful, but over the previous summer he had resorted to attacking monitors who tried to prevent him from getting into parked cars," officials added.
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