Description

The Baboon's colour varies from brown-grey to dark brown or nearly black but is usually grey-brown. Adult males have a dark mane on the neck and shoulders. The hair is long and coarse. The backs of the hands and feet are dark brown or black. Young have black hair and pink skin. The ears have pointed tips, and the muzzle is long and broad. The limbs are long and powerful with the the arms being longer than the legs. The first third of the tail is held stiffly upwards, with the end two thirds hanging down. There are areas of  on the rump. Females have a pair of nipples on the chest. Average total length males 1,5m with the tail 70cm and weight 35kg.  Total length females 1m with the tail 58cm and weight 15kg.

Male/Female Differences

Males can be distinguished from females by their larger size, longer muzzles and larger canine teeth. Callosities (thickened skin on the rump) meet in the middle below the anus in males instead of widely separated in females.

Habitat and Distribution

Cliffs or tall trees preferred for sleeping. With food, water and suitable sleeping place are available, baboons can survive almost anywhere.

Diet

Omnivorous; grass, leaves, insects, bulbs, fruit and other vegetation, eats invertebrates, including shellfish, eggs, small vertebrates, fish, birds, and mammals.

Reproduction

Females have reproductive cycles of 29-42 days with an average of 36 days. When a female is sexually receptive the sexual skin on her rump swells and turns bright pink. Maximum swelling is reached 5-6 days before she ovulates, and males compete for access to females in this condition because mating at those times have a higher chance of leading to conception. The most dominant male has privileged access to females. Gestation is six months. Single young, rarely twins, are born at any time of the year and are weaned at 6-8 months. Females reach sexual maturity at 6-7 years and give birth every 2 years. The Baboon's lifespan 20-30 years. Due to their inaccessible roosts, sentinels and guards, baboons suffer only occasional losses to large carnivores; leopards are the most likely predator.

Behavior and habits

Active during the day, sleeping at night in large trees or on cliff ledges. Baboons are very social and live in female-bonded troops of between 4 and about 100 individuals with an average troop size of about 40. Troops are smaller in poorer habitats and larger in richer areas.  There is usually more than one male in a troop. Females stay in the troop that they were born in; males emigrate and may move from troop to troop. Separate dominance hierarchies exist among the males and females. Males outrank females. Daughters inherit their mother's rank. Male dominance depends on physical condition, and high rank is held for only 6-12 months, depending on sex ratios in the population. Females can rise in rank by forming alliances with close female relatives, or with male 'friends'. Young ride under their mother's belly; as they grow they change to riding sideways on her back, and then astride, using her tail as a backrest. Males are protective towards infants that are probably their offspring, and act as babysitters while the mother forages, probably to protect the youngsters from infanticide by immigrant males.

Males make loud barking/booming sound. Others chatter and shriek. Fights are accompanied by loud screams, and squeals. Baboons are usually quiet, and social vocalizations are mainly soft grunts. The very loud, two-syllable 'ba-hoo' bark is an alarm call given mainly by adult males.

Dung and Field sign

Droppings are 10cm, irregular and roughly rounded; they are often artfully deposited on top of rocks. Fresh dung has a strong, distinctive odor. Stones and rocks turned over in search of food.