Baby dies after baboon attack
Human-wildlife conflict hits City
The urban housing crisis, which led to the mushrooming of informal settlements in Windhoek, could exacerbate human-wildlife conflict incidents as residents claim undeveloped land on the outskirts of the capital which is often occupied by wild animals.
Just five months after celebrating the birth of Peya Heita, the baby’s family is now mourning her death.
Heita — who was born on 5 May — died on Wednesday morning at the Okapale informal settlement on the outskirts of Windhoek after a baboon snatched her from her family's shack and dragged her into the nearby bushes.
She was left with life-threatening injuries.
“I’m hurt. I’m not happy,” David Heita, the baby’s father, said while speaking to Namibian Sun as the family narrated the ordeal which has left them devastated and with more questions than answers.
The baby’s mother, Josephina Petrus (26), was cooking when the incident occurred at their shack located adjacent to the picturesque hilltops surrounding Windhoek, which are home to baboon troops that often encroach on the settlement in search of food and water.
When Petrus heard the commotion, she turned around and saw a baboon carrying Heita in its mouth into a nearby riverbed, leaving the infant to fight for her life after sustaining serious injuries.
Petrus hurried to rescue the child when the baboon eventually ran off. The baby was rushed to Katutura State Hospital, from where she was transferred to Windhoek Central Hospital for a medical procedure.
She, however, succumbed to her injuries over the weekend.
Not the first time
Describing the incident, Josephina's sister Salmi Petrus said the baboons slapped her niece in the face and threw the baby with stones until neighbours came to the family’s aid.
This, she said, after her own child survived a baboon attack just last month.
“I took my daughter who had been attacked to the clinic for a dressing. My sister was busy cooking and heard something and then she saw a baboon run to her child.
“The baboon grabbed the child and took her to the riverbed and then threw her [to the ground],” she said.
According to her, it is only the involvement of neighbours that forced the baboon to finally leave the baby alone.
“She was crying until the neighbours came to chase the baboon and help her by taking her to the hospital,” she said.
Living in fear
Fearing for their lives, the two sisters have since relocated to Kilimanjaro in the Babylon informal settlement, adding that they refuse to return to their shack at Okapale.
“It is very difficult, that is why we came this side. We don’t want to stay in that area because the baboons came to the same house twice. It is very difficult to stay there,” Salmi said.
She added that while she reported the incident to the constituency’s councillor, she was only given N$200 as compensation.
“There is no protection here because I reported it to the councillor and he just gave me N$200. It is very difficult. I’m not working and neither is my sister,” she said.
Not my responsibility
Meanwhile, Samora Machel constituency councillor Nestor Kalola said the incident was beyond the ambit of the regional council, referring Namibian Sun to the environment ministry.
“What support do you think my office can offer? Animals are under the ministry of environment, what do you think a regional councillor can do?
“I am aware of the situation and did meet with the family. I gave them money to take the child to the hospital,” he said.
Environment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda described the incident as regrettable.
“We do not have any report on the incident and it is regrettable and unfortunate for the ministry,” he said.
Heita — who was born on 5 May — died on Wednesday morning at the Okapale informal settlement on the outskirts of Windhoek after a baboon snatched her from her family's shack and dragged her into the nearby bushes.
She was left with life-threatening injuries.
“I’m hurt. I’m not happy,” David Heita, the baby’s father, said while speaking to Namibian Sun as the family narrated the ordeal which has left them devastated and with more questions than answers.
The baby’s mother, Josephina Petrus (26), was cooking when the incident occurred at their shack located adjacent to the picturesque hilltops surrounding Windhoek, which are home to baboon troops that often encroach on the settlement in search of food and water.
When Petrus heard the commotion, she turned around and saw a baboon carrying Heita in its mouth into a nearby riverbed, leaving the infant to fight for her life after sustaining serious injuries.
Petrus hurried to rescue the child when the baboon eventually ran off. The baby was rushed to Katutura State Hospital, from where she was transferred to Windhoek Central Hospital for a medical procedure.
She, however, succumbed to her injuries over the weekend.
Not the first time
Describing the incident, Josephina's sister Salmi Petrus said the baboons slapped her niece in the face and threw the baby with stones until neighbours came to the family’s aid.
This, she said, after her own child survived a baboon attack just last month.
“I took my daughter who had been attacked to the clinic for a dressing. My sister was busy cooking and heard something and then she saw a baboon run to her child.
“The baboon grabbed the child and took her to the riverbed and then threw her [to the ground],” she said.
According to her, it is only the involvement of neighbours that forced the baboon to finally leave the baby alone.
“She was crying until the neighbours came to chase the baboon and help her by taking her to the hospital,” she said.
Living in fear
Fearing for their lives, the two sisters have since relocated to Kilimanjaro in the Babylon informal settlement, adding that they refuse to return to their shack at Okapale.
“It is very difficult, that is why we came this side. We don’t want to stay in that area because the baboons came to the same house twice. It is very difficult to stay there,” Salmi said.
She added that while she reported the incident to the constituency’s councillor, she was only given N$200 as compensation.
“There is no protection here because I reported it to the councillor and he just gave me N$200. It is very difficult. I’m not working and neither is my sister,” she said.
Not my responsibility
Meanwhile, Samora Machel constituency councillor Nestor Kalola said the incident was beyond the ambit of the regional council, referring Namibian Sun to the environment ministry.
“What support do you think my office can offer? Animals are under the ministry of environment, what do you think a regional councillor can do?
“I am aware of the situation and did meet with the family. I gave them money to take the child to the hospital,” he said.
Environment ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda described the incident as regrettable.
“We do not have any report on the incident and it is regrettable and unfortunate for the ministry,” he said.
Comments
Raymond Garoeb
RIP little angel