Even with their new wildlife status, they are still trapped, shot and clubbed to death in large numbers because they pose such a serious threat to human livelihoods. Of course, I was not going to move the Pumphouse Gang and its two companion troops to any area where they would get into trouble again. That in itself limited my options. In addition, I had to pay attention to constraints of altitude and geography, of vegetation and also the possibility of competition from indigenous baboons. Even where the baboons would sleep was a concern.
Most primates sleep in trees to avoid predators.
The Pumphouse Gang slept on sheer rock cliffs instead. I was worried that forcing them to use trees instead of rocks as sleeping sites might add to the trauma of this move. Finally, there seemed to be existing baboon troops everywhere. In the end, I reasoned that anywhere without baboons was probably not suitable because of seasonally limited resources, hostile humans or other serious threats, any of which would mean disaster for the translocated animals. My search for a new home lasted two years.