Residents of Old Magwegwe suburb in Zimbabwe were left in shock on Monday morning when a stray baboon entered one of the houses where it had a quick breakfast – ravenously eating bread, bananas and tomatoes which were in the fridge.
The daring baboon was first spotted at a house near Ntshamathe Primary School before it caused a commotion, sending residents running through the streets.
It is reported that the unexpected visitor caused chaos after residents started chasing it all over, saying it was a taboo to see a baboon roaming across the suburb.
When B-Metro visited the scene, residents were chasing the animal from house to house as it jumped from one rooftop to another destroying properties in the process.
Residents later caught up with the wild animal and killed it.
Millicent Pidzi, the owner of the house where the baboon feasted on bread, tomatoes and bananas said she had never seen such a thing in her life.
“When it entered my house the baboon shocked everyone when it started eating bread, tomatoes and bananas which were in the fridge. I think this baboon will bring us bad luck,” she said.
Some residents linked the incident to witchcraft.
“The incident might be also linked to witchcraft because at one point, a naked granny and a warthog were spotted in our community,” said an elderly resident, Saliwe Dube.
One woman, who was touched by the act, Thobekile Moyo, said it was something unusual to see.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before and was shocked when the baboon invaded my yard. I almost collapsed and I linked that to acts of witchcraft as some people can use juju to prosper in their lives,” a shocked Moyo said.
Mr Agrippa Siziba, whose house’s asbestos sheets and window panes were damaged when people tried to drive the animal out of his yard said he suffered a great loss.
“I was sleeping and I heard people screaming and told me that a baboon was in my yard. When I tried to drive it out it turned violent and started destroying window panes and asbestos sheets,” said Mr Siziba.
When officials from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) arrived the baboon had already been killed by the residents.
Early this year another stray baboon was also spotted in New Magwegwe and was saved when Zimparks officials captured it before residents descended on it.
