Sunday, May 23, 2010

Baboon Hunters…



As you may well know from past emails and blog updates, there is a baboon problem at Kanyawara. The baboons are so aggressive and very dangerous. The Wildlife Authority found a solution to this… bring in hunters that eat baboons. So hunters from a different part of Uganda have been hanging around the outside of the park (the people in this area don’t eat monkeys). They use spears, machetes, and dogs to hunt the baboons. They are only allowed to hunt when the baboons leave the park, but we still see their dogs running around inside the park when they aren’t supposed to. Field assistants have expressed concerned about the baboons being butchered in the village and what effect the blood and germs could have on them. Good question. Nevertheless, the baboons have started respecting people again and have been on much better behavior. One day when leaving the field station, we came across the whole group of hunters and their dogs together and I got this amazing photo!

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