Make sure that your waste management is extremely efficient:

• If possible keep your garbage bin out of sight (eg. in your garage) until collection day.
• It is essential to baboon-proof your dustbin, wherever it is situated. There are a number of ways to do this, depending on the type of bin you are using.
• If you are using municipal wheelie bins remember to attach locks to both sides of the bin – a single lock in the middle of the bin is insufficient.

• If the municipality has supplied you with a baboon proof bin remember to attach a padlock or bin lock.

• Secure your bin upright by attaching it to a pole or wall –
  baboons have learnt that if they knock baboon-proof bins over the locks may pop open!

Prevent entry into your home:

Curtains or netting prevent the baboons from seeing into your home – if they can’t see any obvious food source they will be less likely to try and gain entry into your house.

Install burglar bars and ensure there is no more than an 8cm gap in the bars.

Juvenile baboons and even some of the sub-adults can get through cat and dog flaps! There are devices that you can attach to the collar of your domestic pet so that the flaps only open as they approach and don’t remain open all the time

Put additional locks onto sliding doors to stop baboons forcing them off their runners.

Use round door handles wherever possible as the baboons find these handles difficult to grasp.

IF BUILDING A NEW HOUSE:
plan your structure to minimise the impact of baboons

Place additional braces to support the lengths of drain pipes and guttering baboons may climb on  – the extra bracing will ensure that the pipes don’t fall down or break.

Prepare in advance by using longer nails and screws, extra braces, stronger material – the additional cost and effort at the beginning will pay huge dividends over time as the potential damage caused by baboons will be greatly reduced.

Use washable exterior paint so that dirty baboon hand prints are easily washed away.

Put deterrents such as additional electrification around your DSTV dish – it is costly to replace these and they are a huge attraction for young baboons to investigate.

An ingenious alternative is to strap the thorny branches of acacia trees around the DSTV dish –baboons immediately recognise the long thorns, and know to avoid that area.

It is often a combination of tactics that are most successful in deterring baboons, so remember to reduce the obvious rewards and make it as difficult as possible for the baboons to gain any rewards at all – in this way they will soon learn that there is nothing of value in the villages and they won’t waste their time and energy coming into our areas for food.

If a baboon does manage to enter your home:

Stay calm!  We cannot emphasise this enough!  He will not hurt you unless he feels threatened or cornered. Make sure he has an exit route like an open window or door.  If you have dogs, lock them out of the way.

If you are holding food, drop it. In a wrestling match over food the baboon will win.

Be confident – baboons will ignore you if you are not sure of yourself. Make a loud noise such as banging pots and pans, and as a last resort spray him with a water bottle.