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Roving gangs of big baboons are terrorizing suburbanites in Cape Town, South Africa, brazenly breaking into homes, cleaning out refrigerators, and shitting all over the place. Now, rival human groups have emerged, some wanting to protect the monkeys and others wanting to clear them out or kill them. From National Geographic:
"I have had them in my house several times, even while I was there. They simply brushed past me. I had to get out of the way," (said Joan Laing, co-chair of the ironically-named Welcome Glen Baboon-Free Neighbourhood Action Group.) "Even my husband got threatened by a baboon."Link (via Fortean Times)
She insists that monitoring teams trying to keep the baboons at bay are not effective.
"These animals are quick. They can cross walls and roofs at speed. For two or three people to try to keep them away is impossible," she said.
"They move in a troop of about 30, and they are so wide apart that it is impossible to stop them slipping into built-up areas..."
The source of the problem is human encroachment into the baboons' historic habitat.