VILLAGERS FORM BRIGADES TO FIGHT OFF INVADING BABOONS

Residents of three villages in Mwika ward, Moshi Rural District, Kilimanjaro region have stepped up patrol, this time not targeting criminals, but against troops of baboons.

The primates are not only causing havoc to their farms but now invade their houses, to the kitchens and food stores in particular, where they would ravage whatever edible.

"Patrols have mostly been intensified during the cooking time," lamented a resident of Mwanjeni village Mr. Robert Meela. Two other villages which have to contend with the menace are Kondeni and Kimangaro.

He said many villagers are now compelled to leave their routine work in their farms in order to do patrol against the animals which would normally descend on homestead from the nearby forest or trees in their coffee and banana farms.
The chairman of Mawanjeni village Fred Urio said besides scavenging for food in their homesteads, the baboons have also ravaged on the food crops in the farms, especially bananas and maize fields. No statistics were given.

A baboon ravaging plants 

"The situation is not promising. Deliberate measures must be taken to wipe out the beasts", he told this reporter, noting that a lot of time was wasted to chase the agile animals which would easily disappear into the forest and return to raid their food stores undetected.

The animals have also wreaked havoc on their poultry, feeding on live chicken and their eggs. "Each one of us must now turn into a security guard, failure to which his or her family would go hungry", Mr. Urio said.

He added that there had not been any solution to the crisis because they had not been provided with the game rangers to 'chase' away the animals into the nearby Kilimanjaro National Park (Kinapa) or to other forested areas.

"In addition to that most of our villagers do not have guns to shoot those ravaging our farms", the villager explained, noting, however, that they were still keen to see relevant authorities intervening to save them from the marauding animals.
A councilor for Mwika South Charles Kawiche admitted that attacks by baboons have wreaked havoc on granaries in the area and that he had presented the case to district council. According to him, another affected village is More which is also within Mwika ward.
Baboons and other primates are among animals still resident on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, particularly on its southern side, according to the Kinapa chief park warden Erasto Lufungilo.

Large animals are rare on Kilimanjaro and are more frequent in the forests and lower parts of the mountain. Elephants and buffalloes are to be found on the western and north-eastern slopes and frequent the area, from the national parks in both Tanzania and Kenya, mainly during the dry seasons.

Bushbucks, chameleons, dikdiks, duikers, mongooses,sunbirds and warthogs have been reported as well while zebras and hyenas have been observed on the Shirat plateau, according to the chief park warden. 

Natural forests cover about 1,000 square kilometres (250,000 acres) on Kilimanjaro. are cultivated. Remnants of the formersavanna vegetation with Acacia, Combretum, Terminalia and Grewia also occur.