A fed baboon is a dead baboon

Most visitors come to Namibia to see and experience wildlife. Especially tourists from Europe, who probably know exotic animal species only from pictures and zoos, are thrilled when they see a troop of baboons next to the road from the airport into Windhoek. And rightly so: we are very lucky in Namibia to have so much free roaming wildlife not only in our national parks but generally everywhere else in the country too.

Yet as soon as those same visitors get to see wildlife at any of our many tourist attractions they attempt to make it friendly to human interaction. It is a peculiar trait of many overseas visitors that they do not understand that wildlife is exactly that: wild; and, by definition, their behaviour and social patterns are governed by natural laws handed down through evolution and instinct.

One can pull up to any of the many lay-bys and rest places next to the main carriers through the desert and discover well-meaning tourists putting out little plastic saucers of water or leaving behind a few morsels and scraps of food for anything from mice and weaver birds to ground squirrels and baboons. Apart from adding to annoying litter, have the well-meaning but misguided visitors ever wondered how these same species managed to survive before advent of humanity and tourism in Namibia? In fact, how did our diverse wildlife manage not only to evolve but indeed prosper in an environment characterised more often by the absence of water and food rather than the abundance of it?

The laws of nature are harsh but fair. Species do not evolve because nature has been manipulated but rather through a natural selection process of the strongest gene within a specie that was forced to adapt to adverse natural circumstances.

To make wildlife used to readily available food and water through feeding it will obviously have a direct impact on their habits and social patterns. A sign at the Naukluft Mountain camp site office is a case in point: "A fed baboon is a dead baboon". These omnivorous primates, known for their daring habits, will quickly turn into marauding gangs of thieving nuisances if habituated to humans and readily available food. Many a visitor to the camp site has been annoyed by a baboon making off with a camera bag thinking it might contain food. And should the baboon be cornered with his booty, he will probably become aggressive and could very well spell danger to visitors. As a result rangers are then forced to cull 'problem animals'.

Thus animal love, as much as it is a quality to be fostered when it comes to pets and domestic beasts of burden, is unfortunately misplaced when applied to wildlife. n