WATCH | Baboon checks into Sandton hotel, will rest up in rehab and then be set free

The male baboon that was on the run in various Johannesburg suburbs has finally been captured - after "booking into" a hotel in Sandton.

The baboon was spotted by residents in Bryanston, Fourways and Sandton at the weekend.

Community Led Animal Welfare (Claw), Wild Serve and the SPCA were tracking the baboon's movements in an attempt to safely capture the primate and release him into the wild.

Claw’s Cora Bailey took to Facebook on Monday evening to announce that the baboon had been captured.

“He is trapped. Thanks for all the lovely comments. This rescue would not have been possible without lots of special people getting involved,” she said.

Bailey said the baboon was caught at the Capital on the Park Hotel in Sandton.

“The hotel management were clearly stressed but coped with all the crazy plans with utmost patience and professionalism.

“Capital on the Park, you were so accommodating and the buffet for the baboon trap looked scrumptious. Your hotel is a little bit of heaven among all the hustle and bustle that is Sandton. What were the chances that this baboon was going to enter the only vacant room in the hotel? But he did, and he is safe and sound.

“Watching him perched on a balcony railing on the 10th floor, expecting him to fall at any time, will forever be etched in my memory,” Bailey said.

The baboon is expected to be held temporarily at a rehabilitation centre before being released into the wild.