Two weeks ago, I shared a couple articles about defending against shark attacks. I admitted that I hadn’t thought much about the issue of shark attacks despite swimming with sharks all over the world.
When I saw this article about monkey attacks, I realized that unlike the shark attack, I had seriously considered defending against a monkey attack.
In 2008, I was hiking alone in a wildlife preserve in Kenya. As I was walking on a remote trail, I encountered a troop of baboons walking the opposite direction towards me on the same trail. What do I do?
I stepped off the trail about 10 feet to allow them room to pass. That wasn’t far enough. Several charged me. I kept slowly backing off while drawing my blade. For awhile, I seriously thought I was going to have to stab a baboon.
Imagine getting charged by a couple of these
In 2019, I was camping in a large safari tent on a South African photo safari. It was the middle of the afternoon when I heard one of my camp mates screaming. I ran over to the deck in front of her tent where she was completely surrounded by a troop of menacing little vervet monkeys. I yelled and stomped my feet. I charged them. They were completely nonplussed.
I ended up drawing my OC spray and aiming for the nearest monkey’s eyes. That finally drove them all off. Those monkeys are such a menace that park rangers there and in places like India use slingshots and paintball guns to drive the monkeys away from the tourists.
Nasty little bastards
Don’t be like me. Read the article below and learn how to deal with monkey attacks before you have to do it for real.
How to Survive a Monkey Attack | Primates Survival Tips
Thank you to John Motil for sending me this link.