We are used to call outs for all sorts of animals - a donkey, pelicans, dolphins, whales, jackals, a chameleon, of course plenty of seals - we did not expect a baboon on the list of OCN's rescue animals. We have a lot of them in Namibia, but nowhere near the coast, nowhere near our home town Walvis Bay. This little guy, we named him Oliver, found himself locked on a truck inside a container with rosewood for the export market. We do not know how and when he got locked in - it could have been anywhere in Zambia, Angola or across the Namibian border. 

Everybody got a big fright when the container arrived in Walvis Bay for further shipping, and a baboon jumped out! As so often, the OCN crew was called in to catch him with one of our rescue nets, and we took him straight away to our local vet Dr Beeker for examination and safekeeping. He was very hungry and we fed him bananas, papaya, and his favorrite: sweetcorn. Then we immediately got on the phone to see if we can take him to our friends from N/a'an ku sê Wildlife Sanctuary, Namibia's biggest and highly acclaimed private animal sanctuary. They do excellent work and they were happy to help. We were so excited when officials from Ministry of Environment and Tourism also gave us the go ahead to move Oliver to greener pastures! 

There was only one last hurdle left: the state veterinarian. Unfortunately he did not have good news for us. He deemed the monkey's relocation too risky because of potential diseases and he ordered the baboon's euthanization. We do not know where Oliver originated, any attempt to take him home is impossible, we do not even know which country he came from. Namibia has a very strict national moratorium on the settlement of foreign primates. 

Here is the sad part: we know the state vet is right. Especially after living with the Corona pandemic for well over 1.5 years, we all understand how important it is to control animal diseases. Oliver could be carrying all kinds of diseases and parasites with unpredictable consequences to other baboons or humans. Oliver is another "casualty" of human animal conflict, when humans have infiltrated his natural living space until he ended up hundreds or thousands of kilometres away from his home, and HE has to pay the price for it. 

Oliver's circumstances have nothing in common with marine mammals like seals. But both species are equally affected by human negligence and infiltration. How is it possible that nobody checked for animals before tons and tons of wood were loaded and sealed in a container in an area full of baboons? How is it acceptable that thousands of seals get entangled in plastic rubbish in the ocean without any consequences for the culprits? 

While Naude is on his way to keep Oliver company on his final journey, we will dry our tears and continue our fight for animals. We could not protect Oliver, but we can safe seals. We have done it 355 times in 2021 alone, and we are very proud of that, and we will continue for as long as we have to. 

Rest in peace, Oliver. Humans have failed you. 

We will try and be better. 

Naude & Katja & The OCN Team