Using paintball guns on baboons has been suggested as one way of keeping them out of urban areas, it was reported.

This was part of a baboon management protocol drafted in Cape Town. City officials, CapeNature and SA National Parks had all agreed baboons had to be entirely excluded from urban areas.

Apart from the paintball guns, other "aversion" techniques would include electric fencing around neighbourhoods or roads, and monitoring the animals' movements with tracking collars.

From February, people in affected areas would be asked to help authorities develop a "road map" for the management of the primates.

One of the non-negotiables in the plan was to put down baboons considered a threat to people's health and safety.