Baboon Mauls 18-month-old Baby In Gwanda
A full-grown male baboon mauled an 18-month-old baby as it tried to drag him away into a bush in West Nicholson in Gwanda District on Thursday last week.
The mother of the child, Petronella Moyo (22), ran after the baboon that had snatched her child from a room, forcing it to dump him and flee.
The animal sank its teeth into the baby twice and left him badly wounded after dragging him on the ground for about 50 metres.
The boy is admitted to Gwanda Provincial Hospital where he is receiving treatment and has been vaccinated against rabies.
Moyo told the Chronicle that she was in her bedroom and the child was in another room when she suddenly heard him screaming. She said:
Some baboons came to our area in the morning and the neighbours made some efforts to chase them away. I was in my bedroom and my son was in the sitting room.
I heard my son crying and when I checked on him I saw a baboon holding him by the leg and fleeing.
Without thinking I pursued the baboon and at the same time I was screaming to scare it. It was dragging my son on the ground along the way and he was crying and screaming in pain.
As I closed in, after a distance of about 50 metres the baboon dropped my son on the ground and it fled.
My son was seriously injured as the baboon bit him twice and he also sustained bruises from being dragged on the ground.
The animal was very violent. I feared that it would tear my child into pieces. However, I was determined to save him at all costs.
He got stitches to bring together open wounds and nurses cleaned up the injuries every day and dressed them.
His condition has greatly improved and he is no longer in great pain.
A resident from Gwanda Town said that it no longer feels safe to leave her children unattended while playing after a baboon once snatched her baby while he was playing and threw her down shortly afterwards.
Baboons reportedly started flocking to the area around 2007 and have since become a menace.
Residents said that the wild animals are very calculative and constantly display traits of humans such as opening doors and taps and leaving water running.
They said they have failed to run income-generating projects such as orchards, poultry and gardens as baboons eat the produce.
The baboons are also causing havoc at Gwanda Provincial Hospital, St Christopher’s Primary School, Mount Cazalet Primary School and Joshua Mqabuko Polytechnic College.
Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution, visited Moyo and Gwanda Provincial Hospital where she urged the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks) to deal with the baboons.
More: Pindula News
