Nosketi walks along a vibracrete fence.
Nosketi sitting on a rooftop.
Nosketi in 2009, three months after a .22 bullet had been removed from his leg.
According to eyewitnesses Nosketi, a Da Gama Park baboon was shot by a 77 year old Fish Hoek resident on 11 November, 2011.
The resident claimed he had shot the baboon in self- defence - although eyewitnesses from the monitoring company say they saw the baboon exit the house, with the man following and shooting him in the back.
In the court case where the man was found guilty of discharging a firearm in a urban area and maiming an animal, it emerged that after initially pursuing the baboon after it exited the house, he had returned to the house to fetch his firearm.
Nosketi was put down by a vet on the same day. The Cape of Good Hope SPCA Wildlife manager, Brett Glasby laid charges against the resident for animal cruelty while the police laid charges relating to illegally discharging a firearm in a public area.
Jenni Trethowan of Baboon Matters said in a press release following his shooting:
" For Noskethi this was not the first time he had been shot – rather it was one of many instances. In 2002 there was evidence of pellet wounds, and a long straight wound across his back that had every appearance of a deep whip lash.
In 2007 a naval officer shot Noskethi with a bullet designed to explode on impact – luckily the shot deflected off the wall of the house and so the wound was not lethal. In 2009 a pellet created a fracture to his shin – and x-rays at the time revealed many other pellets in this male baboon.
Despite charges being laid, witnesses giving affidavits etc. none of these shootings were ever prosecuted; our best efforts to get the authorities to taken action came to naught. Ironically, perhaps the death shot will be the only prosecuted case."
An official source was quoted as saying when Nosketi was X-rayed following the shooting, he was found to have about 100 pellets in his body.
A number of letters appeared in the local papers after the incident. While some decried the act, others praised the resident for his "bravery" while "defending his family", yet Nosketi was shot in the back and had already exited the man's house.
The resident had reportedly informed the service provider, NCC, on the same day prior to the incident.
Jenni Trethowan, of Baboon Matters, an earlier monitoring service provider said" My experience of Noskethi was that of a “gentle giant”... and we thought him to be extremely handsome (in baboon terms)."
Nosketi featured in a documentary due to be released in 2012 by Trevor De Kock of Pelican Pictures who also made an acclaimed documentary about the local African Penguins at Boulders beach.
In an article in a local paper on the 15 November, 2011 describing the shooting of Nosketi on 11 November, the head of BRU said he would recommend contraception for the troop.
On 15 November, 2011 Carpenter, one of the two males in the fission troop was castrated. Less than a month before, the troop had lost a former alpha male when killed by dogs, a week before his death the city vet had stated on 11 October in a meeting for residents that sterilisation would not occur as it had detrimental effects.
Aside from experimental procedures like this (another baboon from the Tokai troop was also castrated), people are increasingly concerned about the future of the Peninsula baboons and the controversial scientific recommendations first given in 2009 that included removal of fission troops and selective removal (culling) of whole troops.
Nosketi foraging amidst the sour figs on a residential pavement.
