Encounters between baboons and people are common in parts of South Africa. WhatsApp groups often share stories of baboons raiding a kitchen and stealing all the food. And stories appear in the media about the torture and killing of baboons.
Recently the hashtag #JusticeForRaygun has been widely shared on social media. A young male baboon named Raygun was being tracked as he made his way through a suburb of Pretoria to the wilds. When he stopped at a school in a small town, a group of teenagers hunted him down, attacked him and burned him to death. Some children had reportedly fainted earlier in the day and he was blamed. This connection to superstition and the occult is nothing new.
