Thanks to the swift response of dedicated Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) workers and volunteers, a model was successfully rescued following an attempt to recover her bag from a thieving baboon.
The mission was initiated late last Monday afternoon (18 November) after the woman was left stranded on the ledge of a cliff near Dappat se Gat, between the Steenbras River Mouth and Kogel Bay Beach on Clarence Drive.
“I was doing a modelling shoot on the beach when a baboon came and grabbed my bag,” Mariana Keyser recalled.
“As soon as I saw the baboon had left my bag alone and left, I started climbing up to retrieve it. When I reached my bag, I looked down and only then realised how high up I was.
“I thought it would be easier to keep going up, but when I reached about three metres to the top, I saw all the moss and made the decision to not go any further. I found some ground to stand on and asked my photographer to get some help.”
An urgent call was made to the emergency number, which prompted the rescue mission.
Once on scene, a rescuer abseiled down to Keyser, who was then placed into a rescue harness and lowered down the rest of the seaside cliff.
A drone from the provincial Department of Health and Wellness’ EMS Drone Unit was used to monitor the team’s progress down the cliff, while also alerting them to the movements of the remaining baboons.
The drone’s presence, together with its powerful spotlight, quickly drove the weary troop off.
“Two baboons came to sit right next to me; I thought about climbing up again, but knew that it would be better to wait. I started singing very calming songs to try and be calm.
“I got stressed out only when a baby baboon wanted to come to me; it’s the only time the male baboon became a little aggressive,” Keyser said.
“As soon as it was dark, the baby went to sleep, so they calmed down. The baboons sat next to me while I waited for help, the whole time. When help arrived the baboons moved away.
“I have never been so happy in my life to see a person and we abseiled down.” .
The successful rescue mission was concluded shortly after 23:00, thanks to the efforts of all the rescue agencies involved.
V WSAR urges the public to save and share the emergency contact number (021 937 0300) and support their efforts with lifesaving donations via its crowdfunding campaign (https://www.backabuddy.co.za/sos-for-life-saving-equipment) or by visiting https://wsar.org.za/support-us/.
V WSAR is a network of government agencies and civilian volunteer organisations, which partner in search and rescue.
