Baboons Give Thanks for Tourists

Tourists visiting Cape Town, South Africa are increasingly becoming victims of baboons committing highway robbery, reports the Associated Press. Over the years many of these plucky primates have grown to associate cars with food, thanks to sightseers who fed them. Now the monkeys don’t even need a tourist to dangle a sandwich or a snack; they just help themselves. With nearly 30 members one baboon gang led by an individual known as “Fred” recently struck the small coastal neighborhood of Simon’s Town, raiding unlocked cars for food. There are about 420 baboons traveling in 17 troupes near Cape Town. City officials are concerned baboon burglaries will rise even further when Cape Town hosts a flood of visitors attending the World Cup next year. Word to the wise: Don’t feed the wildlife.