The shooting of monkeys in suburbia has long been a matter of high contention on the Bluff, but the matter should not be a question of for or against, but the legality thereof.
Tweets, posts, emails and blogs have been rife with the debate on dealing with monkeys in metropolitan areas. Many feel the animals are a nuisance and pest and should be dealt with swiftly and with force. Others say they should be left to roam naturally as it is their habitat too.
Monkey Helpline, an organisation whose sole purpose is to rescue injured monkeys in built-up areas, has noted with concern an increase in the number of animals suffering from gunshot wounds on the Bluff. “We have rescued numerous female monkeys in an advanced state of pregnancy who have been deliberately targeted by air gun shooters. The suffering these animals endure as the result of such malicious attacks is almost indescribable and usually fatal,” said Monkey Helpline spokesman, Carol Booth.
Many locals believe it is their right to shoot the monkeys with air guns or other rifles in order to rid their homes of the perceived menace. The problem with this is two-fold: it is an abysmal affront to the animal anti-cruelty laws, causing agonising injuries and it is simply illegal in terms of the Firearms Control Act.
Very few people who are charged with shooting monkeys are ever convicted. As a result of this, many Bluff animal rights groups and community organisations have decided to take action. A private investigator will be used to track down these shooters so a stronger case may be built against them.
“People need to remember that the bullet from your neighbour’s gun can injure you, your family or your pets,” said local monkey rights activist, Simone Angove.
The number of monkeys in built-up areas is in fast decline according to Monkey Helpline. “Contrary to statements made by the anti-monkey brigade, there is in fact an alarming decrease in the population of urban vervet monkeys. The claim that there is a population explosion of monkeys is totally false. We respond to around 1,000 rescue call-outs every year. Of these, almost 75% of the monkeys do not survive. Consider also that a female vervet can only give birth for the first time in her fourth year, this after a seven month pregnancy and twins are rare. So, far from needing their numbers reduced, they urgently need every bit of help they can get to survive in this increasingly monkey-unfriendly world.”
The majority of births occur in the period from September to December each year. “Normally agile and alert, monkeys are able to avoid most dangers, but those in an advanced stage of pregnancy or encumbered by their new baby or juveniles striking out on their own for the first time, find it more difficult to avoid peril.” She appeals to dog owners to be particularly alert to the presence of monkeys visiting their garden at this time of the year, and to confine their dogs during the short period of time the monkeys are around, if possible. Similarly, she urges motorists to be aware of monkeys in the road or trying to cross the road.
While I accept that pregnant vervets being attacked by dogs or hit by motor cars is, in most cases not the consequence of deliberate malice towards the monkeys, air gun-wielding monkey-haters do deliberately target slower-moving pregnant or newborn baby-carrying female vervet monkeys.”
Section 120 of the Firearms Control Act clearly states that is it illegal to discharge a firearm, including air guns, with reckless disregard for the safety or property of any person or to discharge these weapons in a built-up area, without due cause. This law, in conjunction with the work of the Monkey Helpline, local animal rights groups and the introduction of a private investigator has made the protection of monkeys paramount to many and aims to make shooters think twice before picking up their gun.
Monkey Helpline can be contacted on 082-659-4711, or on email at contact@monkeyhelpline.co.za, and much of the information people require about vervet monkeys and how to deal humanely with their presence is available on www.monkeyhelpline.co.za.
– erinh@dbn.caxton.co.za
