African Monkey
Facts About the African Monkey
For many people, the most interesting African monkey is the baboon. It is also the most adaptive species of African monkey and the one that will most closely associate with humans. The two most common baboons are the Yellow Baboon and the Olive Baboon. Olive Baboons live in Uganda, central and western parts of Kenya and in the north part of Tansania. The Yellow Baboon resides in Tansania and coastal Kenya.
All baboons live in very large groups of from thirty to one hundred individuals. Their territory frequently overlaps, but for the most part troops of baboons simply stay out of one another’s way. Baboons have a very organized day--they arise by 8:00 am, spend some time grooming one another and relaxing, and then they spend around three hours in search of food. They escape the heat of the midday sun by resting and search for food during another three-hour period in the afternoon. They are in their place of sleep by 6:00 pm. Baboons often travel six to ten miles a day in search of food.
A baboon troop is very representative of group social dynamics. They consist of a group of mixed males, females and young ones. Upon reaching maturity, males move around to different troops. Like wolves, baboons have a dominant male who runs the group and a dominant female. Females give birth to the young one at time. The rank of a young baboon in the group varies according to his or her parents’ position within the group.
Baboons can breed year-round, although many times the births are grouped according to season. Unlike some monkeys, baboons are not monogamous. As they are coming into estrus, a female may attract any number of males, but once she is in full estrus, ready to conceive, she will mate with only the dominant male of the group. Many scientists believe that this developed to guarantee that the offspring would have the strongest genes.
Female gestation in this African monkey is for a period of six months. All of the young baboons play with one another, and even the adults spend a portion of every day playing with them as well. They often exhibit very human-type behavior in the games they play with one another. For instance, a favorite baboon game is peek-a-boo. Baboons use many vocalizations to communicate with their young and with one another. Up to thirty different ones have been recorded, including a variety of screams and barks.
Baboons are omnivores and they eat a variety of fruit and nuts along with meat. They will often kills birds to eat and even the young of antelope are taken for food. Researchers have noted that during times of drought, when there was very little food, baboons have been observed eating their own young. Some people believe that this is instinctual so that more food is left to be distributed around the rest of the troop for survival.
Human beings are the biggest predator of the baboon. They are often killed by farmers plus they are routinely caught and sold to laboratories for animal research.