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I am surprised at this, since we go there every Xmas for at least a week. Monkeys steal a lot, but are quite a pleasure to have around.
In December a guy was going around with a catapult and shooting baboons that came into camp late evening.
Never heard of this problem before! Obviously they steal your food when you are away, this even happens in ``Die Hel'' in the Swartberg mountains.
But do they actually attack people?
If so, that is serious!
There IS an electric fence around the camp, and when it rains a lot, you see sparks flying at night when the wet branches touch it. So obviously they just need to cut back a few branches of trees that are hanging over the fence...
I was told they caught and translocated 4 leopards in 2010 that were getting too close to camp and posed a threat to workers...so surely they will do something about this problem too.
This is the best camp for baby impalas that sleep in front of your rondavel at night, and the monkeys really are not a serious problem. But baboons -- has anybody reported this directly to the friendly camp manager?

Hope the problem is solved soon! It has been done in Lower Sabie!

God bless,

Friedrich von Hörsten

We stayed in P/kop for 2 nights recently and did see a lot of monkeys and some Baboons in camp, even saw some young Monkeys playing and a little baboon joined in with them and played happily for ages.

The staff were trying to chase them with a catapult but as soon as his back was turned they were back again.

We made sure our doors and windows were closed at all times even when sitting outside on the little verandah, which was just as well as we had a big male Monkey come boldly up to the door several times and peer in, then jump up on the window sills trying each and every window in turn.
He wasn't at all scared of us altho we didn't do anything to aggravate him just in case.

The real problem primates are the 2-legged ones who visit the area for short periods of time.......

As others have said, until the visitors learn not to feed the animals the problem will recur.

Feeding animals includes being irresponsible about storage of food - leaving car doors and windows open, leaving food unattended, not securing food in lockable containers, etc

Surely there are large primate populations at every camp, what with all the easy pickings? In my experience they are incredibly resourceful animals and will go where there is easy food e.g. anywhere humans are!

Apart from the usual, securing all goods, rubber snakes etc, we have found that a good water pistol works wonders
Far more effective than catapults, and eco friendly. (Also the big boys enjoyed the game )

I use the water pistol solution - and only have to appear with it for the monkeys to scatter.

Another solution was to get some 'dracula' teeth when they were on sale around Halloween and then aggressively show them to the nearby monkeys - following their aggression behaviour in other words. Instant response, and even the big guys run from me now!!!! The temporary embarassment was worth it..... I keep the teeth in my pocket, and use them from time to time to reinforce the memory!

Anyone tried a photo of a leopard? On a recent trip, I stuck a huge poster of a leopard to the tent door. We walked a distance from the tent to see what the reaction would be. The monkeys casually approached the tent but when they saw the 'leopard' the bolted for the nearest tree and screamed like mad. But I guess they are way too clever to be fooled forever by the poster and will eventually realize that the imposter holds no threat.

Similar thing on a less wild scene in my mygarden Fed up of messy birds I put a fluffy toy on the garden furniture.. result? no mess (for a while)

Photo?

Thank you!

We did a short trip to Lower Sabie, Skukuza, Berg en Dal at the beginning of April, I know this is Pretoriuskop page but the monkey and baboon problem is everywhere. At Skukuza the monkeys seem to know exactly which hut is the easy target (two older ladies next door to us who kept all their food in the outdoor cupboard and never turned their fridge) and returned as soon as these ladies left for a drive.
I was wondering whether there was any chance that the park management could put latches on the outside fridges and cupboards, they could either supply padlocks for a deposit; or you could bring your own or have a good stock of padlocks in the shop.
Isn't it possible that once the "easy" meals found in these places dry up the primates will be forced to find food elsewhere.

I've just booked a basic hut (ES2) with shared bathroom in Pretoriuskop.
This will be my first stay in this kind of accommodation.

Is bedding provided?
I see that there are no utensils etc in the hut, is there a braai outside the hut or a communal braai that we can use?

My apologies if this info is posted somewhere else, I spent a good while looking for the info but couldn't find it anywhere else!

Thank you

All bedding including towels and soap are provided . . You will have a braai area but must bring your own utensils.

"1 bedroom with 2 single beds
Communal ablutions
Communal Kitchen
Fan
No electric points or Fridge
No Smoking
No utensils"

Hi ECV Welcome to the forums. Have a look at this thread it might give you some ideas.Have a wonderful time.

ECV hello, we stayed in a hut last July, we found bedding and towels,a small cake of soap and two glasses and two extra blankets, we moved the table and chairs outside so we could sit around the braai and eat, we only stayed for one night but we had a good nights sleep as well as being very warm, hope you have a wonderful visit to the best place on earth