BABOONS AND PAINT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20426, 5 June 1928, Page 10

BABOONS AND PAINT.

DEALING WITH PESTS. AN UNUSUAL REMEDY. The lot of the settler in Kenya is not entirely a happy one. Elephants, hippopotami, bush pigs and baboons all have their various ways of annoying human beings. In his report for 1926 the game warden quotes a South African informant’s description of the way in which baboons can be satisfactorily dealt with. The method is as follows: — “ A baboon is caught, a cage trap or gin with muffled jaws being used, and a thick sack or rug is thrown over its head. Several persons then hold the animal, which is shaved as far as possible all over. This operation being completed, the baboon is painted with a thick coat of Cambridge blue and liberated. No member of his troop will again approach the scene of the indignity for an indefinite period.” The Game Warden, in concluding, adds: “ Considering the highly organised intelligence of the baboons, I cannot but feel that the proceeding savours of cruelty, more especially in the colour used.” Which is, perhaps, the unkindest cut of all. Elephants occasionally romp over the maize and wheat fields and do vast damage. Even-cars are not immune from attack, and in the game warden’s report the case is cited of an angry cow elephant holding up an old Ford near Namanga and “ kicking the car severely in the radiator.” The assistant game warden's Rolls Royce also suffered.

Hippopotami damage not only crops but the native huts. When a hippopotamus leans against the average hut it is the hut that gives up the contest. These pranks, however, are —considering their consequences—taken in remarkably good part by the natives.