"WE SHOULD ALL START TO LIVE BEFORE WE GET TOO OLD. FEAR IS STUPID, SO ARE REGRETS”
UNKNOWN
THE BABOONS
LITTLE PEOPLE OF THE DRAKENSBERG
‘With a long yawn, showing his big canine teeth, Bru stretches his muscles, his handsome face framing a pair of golden eyes. Slowly he scratches between his legs; an irritating itch has been bugging him since late last night.
Slowly Bru looks around the cave. Some of the other baboons in the troop are also slowly waking up now; soon they will leave the cave and go searching for food. Bru gets up and walks over to the waterfall in the corner of the cave. A baby stares coyly at him from the safety and comfort of his mother’s arms with huge big eyes. Bru is not in a good mood today. His face is showing many scars, being the leader of a troop as large as his does comes at a price. There are the constant challenges from the younger males, and today feels like it could be another day of fighting for the leadership. Em, the alpha female approaches and grooms his golden hair. Oh, it feels so good when she does that, his muscles relaxing, enjoying the moment.
Taking a sip of water from the waterfall, Bru bares his teeth and let out a sharp bark, which echoes through the cave like thunder. It is time to move out for the day. Everybody is up now, and Bru struts out of the cave on all fours, his huge size an amazing sight. Standing outside the cave Bru surveys the world around him, seeing no danger. With a final bark, he starts climbing down the cliff in front of him and moves down into the valley. Far below him the river glistens in the early morning sun’.
I have met up with my baboon friends many times over the years, and on my multi day hikes I would meet up with them on a daily basis. I would walk through the territory of quite a few troops on a daily basis. They are amazing animals to watch, and the first indication of their presence is when the baboon on guard duty barks out a warning announcing your presence. Sometimes they would be far away and high up a mountain or cliff, at other times much closer. It is particularly funny when one of the youngsters is the first to notice you. Perching on a boulder they would emulate the big males and warn the rest of the troop in this tiny barking voice. It would normally be backed up immediately by one of the big males. The troop, depending on how close you are to them, will always move away, sometimes at a great speed. The mother will pick up their tiny baby babies or little ones and move off. It is quite clear that they have a great distrust in human beings, and it is no wonder. Humans have always been the greatest enemy of the baboons, making a concerted effort to kill them on sight; a practice which continues to this day. At least now in the Drakensberg Wilderness they are protected. However, when the Giant’s Castle Reserve was first formed, the then rangers would shoot them on sight. Imagine, you are doing your own thing to survive, and then you are being shot for now reason, and then also by the then so-called protectors of the wilderness!
Baboons will not approach a human being at all, and will always keep a big distance away from any human. It is fortunate for us, as the baboons are very big, strong, and very intelligent. Human beings will not survive an encounter with one of them. The big males in the troops are a fearsome, though beautiful sight. I therefore have a healthy respect for them, and I do not approach them at all. It is also a matter of respect; it is their world in which I am trespassing. If my route comes close to them, I would change it so that I go around them and leave them in peace, especially if they have a lot of young with them. The troop as a whole will protect their babies to the third degree and will not back off. If you keep your distance, some troops will stay where they are, keeping a watchful eye on you with constant warning barks emanating from a few of them.
The baboons of the Drakensberg area the Chacma baboon, golden beige in color with long hair. The males are very big and muscular, and the muscularity is also due to the mountainous terrain they live in and move through every day. Closer to the camps, for reasons I do not know, the baboons are black in color and sometimes smaller in size. Those deeper into the wilderness are always golden beige in color.
They can move at astonishing speed and can scale up and down cliffs and mountain sides as if that obstacle does not exist. The males have huge canine teeth with which they can rip flesh into pieces in no time at all. They are normally very docile animals, and very keenly aware of their environment. There will always be a guard in attendance and his sole function would be to warn the rest of the troop of danger.
I have met up with many old, lone male baboons which are not part of a troop. Due to their age and losing a leadership fight they get kicked out of their troop and then have to find their own way. It is quite a sad sight to see as baboons are very social animals and they look such a lonely sight surviving on their own.
When the male teenagers reach a certain age, they also get kicked out of their troop and this is to prevent inbreeding as well as leadership challenges. They will then move off and find their own troops to join or fight to become the new leaders of the troops. At the age they get kicked out, they are in their prime and also very aggressive.
I have only once had a bad experience with baboons. On a 7 day hike through the Kamberg Valleys, as I made my way through a valley next to the river, I heard a baboon bark on the left hand side of the river. The left bank of the river consisted of a very high cliff area, with a solid drop off from the top. I looked up and saw the one baboon on top of the cliff and 20 meters away from him was a second one. They were in their prime. I looked around to see where the rest of the troop was, but all I could see was the 2 males. The one who did the barking was very agitated and started running up and down the top of the cliff, furiously barking. It was obvious that his anger was directed at me. The next moment the baboon flew down the cliff face, and he kept on calling to the second baboon, which eventually followed him. They made their way down to the river, behind my back and jumped across the river. From there they disappeared into the grasslands, only to surface on a ridge on my right hand side, barely 30 meters away. There they sat still for a while observing me.
By now I knew that I had a big problem and it was clear that I was being ambushed. The one baboon was the leader and the other one did not seem so keen on all the action, but he was being spurred on by his mate. All of a sudden the first baboon started screaming again, ran down the back of the ridge, made his way down the to the river and started running right at me baring his teeth, followed by the second baboon. At this stage he was barely 20 meters away from me. I knew I had to do something and do it fast. If not, I will not be alive to tell the tale.
I felt this incredible rush of adrenaline streaming through every ounce of my body, it was a surreal feeling, my hair actually started rising. I stood my ground, made myself as tall as possible, waved my walking stick in front of me, and started screaming as loudly and aggressively as I could. I have not ever screamed as loudly before, but my life depended on it. I was on the menu for the day and the baboon charge was not an intimidation issue.
Barely 10 meters in front of me, the first baboon all of a sudden came to a halt. I kept on screaming at him, waving the walking stick at him, and taking a few steps towards him as I did so. All of a sudden he turned towards the river and with an almighty jump he cleared the river. The baboon climbed the cliff on the opposite bank in no time at all and within seconds he was back at where he started from. The second baboon stopped when I first screamed and was sitting in the grass. I started approaching him, still screaming. Slowly he turned around and started walking away. This baboon stayed on my side of the river and eventually disappeared in the grasslands in front of me.
My body was now shaking with the adrenalin rush and with what has just happened. I knew that the danger was not over yet, and I had to get out of this area as quickly as possible. I moved further down the valley at great speed in order to put as much distance between myself and the baboons as possible. It was barely five minutes later that I saw the second baboon in front of me to my right sitting on a little rise in the grasslands, facing me. I started screaming at him again, aggressively so, and then all of a sudden I burst out laughing. The baboon was sitting there, looking at me with the utmost of astonishment on his face, and the look I got was as if he wanted to say: ‘what was all that for, what the hell did I do to you?’ It was really funny. He turned around and just slowly ambled off into the grass. I was still very concerned about the aggressive leader at my back on the other side of the river.
It was the quickest 5 kilometer distance I have ever walked. I had to constantly look around and make sure that I was not going to be ambushed again. The terrain consisted of large boulder, riverine bush, and tall grass. I would not be able to notice the baboons again until it was going to be virtually too late. On my rush down the valley I passed some really pretty waterfall areas, but I could not linger. Eventually I thought I might be out of danger and I started to relax, but I was still very weary. What a lucky escape I had!
The baboons are omnivores, but in the Drakensberg their diet consist mainly of plants and flowers. They also turn over a large number of rocks looking for insects. They will hunt and eat meat if the opportunity presents itself.
Life in the Drakensberg is very harsh for these animals and to fill up their stomachs every day is hard work. Sometimes some of the forests will be kind to them and there will be fruit in some of the trees. It is sometimes possible to follow the baboons for a great distance simply by following the upturned rocks where they have looked for insects.
As darkness approaches, the baboons retire to the high cliff areas for the night and it is also not uncommon for them to sleep in caves high up the cliffs. They will never sleep in low lying areas.
Troops can consist of any number of baboons. I have seen troops as small as 2 adults with three youngsters, and troops as big as thirty. There will always be one alpha male and in the bigger troops there will be quite a number of grown males, all lower in status.
There is a strict rank structure in any troop, and rules to be followed. It is quite interesting and informative to sit for a while and watch the dynamics at play. The grown males and teenagers will always present their pink backsides to the alpha male when he passes through the troop as a sign of their submission to his status. To not do so would immediately be seen as a challenge and there will be a vicious fight within seconds. Males, females, and youngsters will also approach the alpha male and start grooming him. The better they do it, the more the protection and friendship they will receive. All females belong to the alpha male, but, just as our teenagers do, and some adults, a quick secret romp is at the order of the day, far away from the watchful eyes of the leader. I have watched many a time how 2 baboons will sneak away from the troop for a quick lovemaking session.
The female babies of the alpha female are automatically born into royalty and status, and even being very small, they carry authority. Baboons have many human traits, and their children behave like ours would. The youngsters are naughty and absolutely love pranks. It is amazing to see.
I have witnessed many leadership challenges, and leaders being angry and in a bad mood, with every baboon around them the target of his frustration. Where the female baboons will collect their babies and the young ones and put as much distance between themselves and the males. I have listened to baboon fights in the middle of the night. Sometimes the leader will just be in a bad mood and he will vent his anger on everybody within touching distance; that is when the mothers take their young and discreetly disappear. The leader will chase his subordinates all over the mountain and cliffs at a furious rate. Screams of fury will echo down the mountain valleys and cries of despair and pain can be heard.
The leadership challenges are vicious battles and can sometimes be a fight to the death. If the younger challenger wins, he will normally let the old leader live, the leaders are however not always so kind. The fight can also carry on for quite a while and over a great distance. Sometimes the loser might also be kicked out of the troop. Young adult males also sometimes form coalitions in order to get rid of the leader; obviously the members of the coalition gain status should they succeed in kicking out the leader and one of the coalition becomes the new leader.
Some baboon troops living close to the various reserve camps have become thieves. At places like Injasuthi they are a particular problem and you have to be quite weary of them. They have no fear of humans and will enter a chalet and help themselves to food without second fought. Leaving a window open and leaving is not a good idea, as on your return your chalet will have been ransacked. Never confront these baboons as they are much stronger and can become aggressive very quickly. These troops have become a problem due to the fact that they are being fed by visitors. It is the worst thing that you can do as they become problem animals very soon and to such an extent that the only solution is to then shoot them.
The troops involved in camp raiding are black in color and not the same gold and beige color as their counterparts deeper in the wilderness. Their hair is also shorter. These troops are always found closer to the camp reserves and human settlements. Why this is, I don’t know.
That the baboons are highly intelligent and share lots of our human traits is an undeniable fact. There are lots of them in the Drakensberg Wilderness, living a hard life and minding their own business. They are willing to share their territory with us hikers. Deal with them with the required respect. After all, we are the invaders in their world.
The baboons are indeed the little people of the Drakensberg.
‘Bru sits in the midday sun on his favorite boulder close to the river, his eyes heavy with sleep. Around him the youngsters are fooling around, jumping in and out of trees, and having mock fights. Where do they get their energy from Bru wonders before nodding off again.
Some of the young adult males are sitting close to each other, as if in a meeting. They have formed a coalition and are now grooming each other. There is a tacit understanding between them; wait till the sun goes down before we make a move. Bru is getting old and tired now and it is time that one of them should take over. Why must we always listen to the old man they thought.
Em eyes Bru warily, making sure that he is sleeping. A big young male flexes his muscles and slowly walks off into the forest, his golden hair shining in the sun, tail held high, acting as if on a Sunday stroll. Em gets up slowly, following the young male, creating an illusion of feeding herself as she walks slowly towards where the young male disappeared into the forest. Now and then she looks over her shoulder at Bru, making sure he is still sleeping.’
We as hikers, explorers, and adventurers have the absolute duty to respect and protect our Wildernesses. Nobody else will do it for us. Take ownership!
The End.
Safe Hiking.
References and Acknowledgements
From the book – Drakensberg Wilderness – A Solo Journey Through Paradise –
W Pelser
Photos – Willem Pelser
Compiled by Willem Pelser
