What should I do if I encounter baboons when walking in the village?

Remember not to walk around the village carrying food. If you’re walking with food from the shop, restaurants or with a picnic, make sure it’s packed away in a backpack, container or fabric bag to minimise the chance that a baboon will detect it. 

If you don’t have food on you

Remain calm and either stand still or just continue walking, without making eye contact. The baboons will just ignore you. Don’t purposefully get too close. Generally if you’re on one side of the road and the baboons are on the other, they won’t react to you.

If you have food and the baboons want it

To avoid a confrontation, you need to put some distance between you and the food. Calmly drop the food and take a few steps back.. The baboons will lose interest in you and focus on the food.