Baboons living on the edges of human settlements face lethal control, trapping, and chronic stress from conflict with people — a welfare challenge requiring community-based solutions.
Urban-edge baboons experience multiple welfare harms. Conflict with humans results in lethal control that kills socially bonded individuals, breaking family groups. Non-lethal deterrents including rubber bullets and paint-ball guns cause pain and fear. Persistent harassment by ranger patrols creates a state of chronic stress. Baboons that become habituated to human food often face nutritional imbalance from processed food consumption. Relocated individuals face the stress of new territories, unfamiliar social groups, and competition with established troops. The welfare solution requires reducing the underlying driver — human food availability — through waste management and household food security measures, alongside protocols that prioritize non-lethal coexistence.