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© Sedgwick County Zoo, credit: Yang Zhao

Hamadryas Baboon

Papio hamadryas

Physical Characteristics

  • These monkeys have long, dense, silky fur which is gray in males and brownish in females. Mature males have a silver-gray cape or mane over the head, neck and shoulders. All adults have red, hairless skin on the face and rump. Ischial callosities (leathery sitting pads) allow baboons to sit and sleep upright.
  • Size of average adult
    • height: 2 feet
    • weight: males = 45 lbs., females = 25 lbs.
  • Approximate life span is up to 37 years in captivity.

Diet

  • Wild: roots, leaves, blossoms, seeds and grasses, occasionally termites, other insects and small mammals

Behavior

  • Quadrupeds; walk more on all fours than any other monkey
  • Travel in large groups of up to 200 called troops; troops are divided into bands of 60; bands are divided into several clans made up of several adult males each with their own harem of females
  • Males have exclusive breeding rights to their females and control their movements
  • Grooming is a social activity which relaxes and unites members of the group
  • Diurnal and terrestrial, usually sleep on vertical cliffs rather than in trees
  • Spend much time walking, foraging for food and water
  • Reproduction
    • sexual maturity: males = 7 years, females = 5 years
    • breeding season: females develop a red perineal swelling which allows the males to identify when they are ready to mate
    • gestation: 5-6 months
    • usually a single birth, young are born black, weighing 1 - 2 pounds, turning olive-brown as they mature
    • mothers provide most of the infant care, but orphaned infants are occasionally "adopted" and raised by individual males

Environmental/Global

  • Habitat: deserts and bare highlands
  • Distribution: Ethiopia, Somalia, and across the Red Sea on the Arabian Peninsula
  • Status: CITES Appendix II, Vulnerable IUCN
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