South Africa: Baboons attack mountain climbers with stones

A group of seven mountaineers from the region got separated in the Banhoek Mountains near Stellenbosch, near the South African metropolis of Cape Town. On the second day of their journey, they made a refreshment stop on a plateau on their way back down a steep rock face. A group of baboons He saw them watching. The Wild monkeys As the climbers later told the South African Mountain Rescue Service, they looked curious but excited.

Baboons shower stones

The Alpinists paid no attention to the apes and continued their descent. Two members of the group had already descended 55 meters when a massive boulder weighing around 60 kg fell on the ledge where the other climbers were preparing to descend. The rock shattered into razor-sharp stones and splinters — with life-threatening consequences: three people had their legs broken by flying stones, and another climber suffered an open flesh wound to his leg. The fifth of the group was thrown over the edge of the cliff but caught in the safety rope.

But it was not over: the monkeys rained stone after stone on the group. The climbers huddled close to the rock face to protect themselves from the deadly missiles and warmed the wounded in their sleeping bags. Eventually one of the crew was able to call 911 despite poor reception, prompting the Search & Rescue Western Cape team to send a helicopter to the scene.

“I’ve never seen baboons there.”

Rescuers who arrived at the cliff face descended on the platform and rescued the crew. The most badly injured climber had to be carried away on a stretcher, while the other two flew to safety in climbing harnesses. All three were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

“This is the third time we’ve been this way, but I’ve never seen baboons before,” says one of the group. He may not believe that the monkeys threw the stones on purpose, but believes that the stones dislodged when the group of monkeys tried to climb up. But the crowd may have seen them as intruders on “their” hill and tried to drive them away. Baboons are very aggressive towards predators and have long fangs that can cause serious injuries.

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