A baby monkey suffered an excruciatingly painful death after being shot in the head at close range with what is believed to be an airgun.
Little Baba Gump, as he was named by the community, was shot on Saturday afternoon at a residential complex in Umdloti, sparking a public outcry.
The ball bearing type bullet penetrated the skull between the monkey’s eyes and became lodged deep in his brain.
The animal miraculously survived the shot and the subsequent fall from his perch and Monkey Helpline’s Craig Johnstone rushed from Ballito to take the monkey to Riverside Veterinary Clinic’s Dr Kerry Easson’s after hours home clinic for treatment. Unfortunately the monkey had to be euthanised on Sunday morning.
Johnstone said the monkey would have been in excruciating pain, disoriented and possibly blind.
Resident Michelle Khoury who retrieved the baby monkey from the shrubs he had landed in, said while she rested his head in the palm of her hand and his body on her arm to keep the neck and spine straight, the monkey never broke eye contact.
She carefully laid him down near a wall at the swimming pool area from where Johnstone eventually collected him.
In a video seen by the Courier, the monkey was visibly distressed and uncomfortable. He was making kicking gestures and was unable to hold up his head.
When Johnstone arrived it was no longer moving and appeared concussed.
Discharging a firearm, including an airgun, in a residential area is illegal and punishable by up to five years imprisonment.
According to the Firearms Control Act 60 of 2000, Section 120, paragraph seven “it is an offence to discharge a firearm, an antique firearm or an airgun in a built-up area or any public place, without good reason to do so”.
Johnstone said there have been cases where people have shot at monkeys, missing their target and nearly hitting children.
The organisation urges anyone who knows the identity of any monkey shooter to report them and lay a charge at the nearest police station and quote the above Act.
Khoury also made a call on social media for anyone with information on the identity of Baba Gump’s shooter to contact her.
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