Thieving baboons wipe out S African vineyards
Baboons with a taste for Chardonnay grapes are terrorising farmers in
South Africa’s Western Cape wine region, munching tonnes of grapes ready
for harvesting, local media reported on Monday.
|
South African baboons |
Farms in the Franschhoek Valley had been emptied by rampaging Chachma
baboons, who sneak into secured plots and help themselves with top grade
grapes, The Times newspaper said.
“They can easily wipe out up to two tonnes of grapes a week when you
are not watching, and that makes about 1,500 to 2,000 bottles of wine,”
said Mark Dendy-Young, farm manager of La Petite Ferme.
Dendy-Young said he had lost up to 40 percent of his harvest last
month to the baboons.
He said the thieving was unwittingly taking farmers back to the
traditional ways of French wine making, where few grapes are harvested.
“In some parts of France, they would let you yield only a small
amount... the baboons are doing it naturally for us,” said Dendy-Young..
AFP |
