Baboon Matters - Beast or Blessing

Beast or Blessing
By Jenni Trethowan, Baboon Matters Trust

Review by Geoff Dalglish

Perhaps nowhere in South Africa is the escalating conflict between humans and wildlife more dramatic than on the Cape Peninsula where baboon casualties are sometimes reminiscent of a war zone.

Each year baboons are shot, poisoned, mauled by dogs and mutilated or killed in road accidents as they go about their monkey business of foraging for food: often moving off the mountain or out of the forest into an extreme danger zone as they resort to the easier option of raiding homes and garbage bins.

And who can blame these survivors as human encroachment continues to shrink their natural environment, long since having cut off traditional migration routes for dispersing males.

They’ve been around longer than humans but today there are just over 300 left on the Peninsula in a sea of humanity numbering many hundreds of thousands. So the conflict grows.

Human attitudes range from love to loathing for these our closest relatives in the local animal kingdom, but fortunately they have a number of committed human ambassadors, and none more passionate than Jenni Trethowan, co-founder of Baboon Matters.

Beast or Blessing is her story and also that of many Capetonians and visitors who’ve chosen to tell of their encounters, good and bad. The book is brutally fair, touching, informative and often funny, portraying our primate neighbours as the highly intelligent, individual and opportunistic creatures they are. Mostly the book is about the baboons themselves, told by many people from the baboon monitors who shadow them day in and day out, to conservationists and homeowners.

Much credit goes to designer Belinda Ashton who has assembled beautiful imagery from photographers of the calibre of Lee Slabber and Brett Cole and Chris Cole, also featuring an evocative message from legendary primatologist Dr Jane Goodall, along with a foreword by Allan Perrins, CEO of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA.

Jane Goodall recognises the important contribution made by Beast or Blessing, insisting that it “will go a long way to helping people understand the problems and help us to find solutions…

The book is an easy read and proceeds go to the Baboon Matters Trust, which is also supplemented by revenue from the programme of Baboon Walks offered to the public.


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			Beast or Blessing By Jenni Trethowan, Baboon Matters Trust Review by Geoff Dalglish Perhaps nowhere in South Africa is the escalating conflict between humans and wildlife more dramatic than on the Cape Peninsula where baboon casualties are sometimes reminiscent of a war zone. Each year baboons are shot, poisoned, mauled by dogs and mutilated or killed in road accidents as they go about their monkey business of foraging for food: often moving off the mountain or out of the forest into an extreme danger zone as they resort to the easier option of raiding homes and garbage bins. And who can blame these survivors as human encroachment continues to shrink their natural environment, long since having cut off traditional migration routes for dispersing males. They’ve been around longer than humans but today there are just over 300 left on the Peninsula in a sea of humanity numbering many hundreds of thousands. So the conflict grows. Human attitudes range from love to loathing for these our closest relatives in the local animal kingdom, but fortunately they have a number of committed human ambassadors, and none more passionate than Jenni Trethowan, co-founder of Baboon Matters. Beast or Blessing is her story and also that of many Capetonians and visitors who’ve chosen to tell of their encounters, good and bad. The book is brutally fair, touching, informative and often funny, portraying our primate neighbours as the highly intelligent, individual and opportunistic creatures they are. Mostly the book is about the baboons themselves, told by many people from the baboon monitors who shadow them day in and day out, to conservationists and homeowners. Much credit goes to designer Belinda Ashton who has assembled beautiful imagery from photographers of the calibre of Lee Slabber and Brett Cole and Chris Cole, also featuring an evocative message from legendary primatologist Dr Jane Goodall, along with a foreword by Allan Perrins, CEO of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA. Jane Goodall recognises the important contribution made by Beast or Blessing, insisting that it “will go a long way to helping people understand the problems and help us to find solutions… The book is an easy read and proceeds go to the Baboon Matters Trust, which is also supplemented by revenue from the programme of Baboon Walks offered to the public.

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