Olive baboons can be found in Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia. Baboons do inhabit grassland in much of their range, but they are also found in moist, evergreen forests and near areas of human habitation and cultivation. The average height for captive and wild males is about 2.30 ft and females measure about 1.97 ft. Wild male olive baboons weigh 52.9 lb and wild females weigh 32.4 lb. Their natural diets are fruits, vegetables, and grains. Until 2001, a population of olive baboons could be found in Spain, but they have subsequently been captured and transferred to zoos.

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This group of Spanish baboons was established when a group of about 60 olive baboons escaped from a safari park and began ranging free on a governmental ranch in 1972. In the westernmost part of their natural range, in Guinea and Mali, olive baboons overlap with guinea baboons, but hybridization between the two species has not been studied yet. All baboons have long dog-like muzzles, close-set eyes, heavy powerful jaws, thick fur, a short tail and rough spots. These calluses are nerveless, hairless pads of skin which are present to provide for the sitting comfort of the baboon.

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Olive baboons live in a variety of habitats across their broad range. Baboons are generally characterized as savanna species, inhabiting open grassland near wooded areas. Olive baboons are also found in Ethiopia. In the Bole Valley, olive baboons range from the valley bottom, found at an altitude of 1700 m to the plateau which rises over the valley floor to an altitude of 2300 m. In neighboring Eritrea, olive baboons live in arid and moist lowlands below 900 m (2953 ft) characterized by riverine forest bordered by savanna. Average rainfall in their Eritrean range is 544 mm (1.78ft) per year. In many of their range countries, they live in evergreen tropical forests. In Uganda, both types of habitat exist and olive baboons utilize each.

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At Queen Elizabeth National Park, situated near the border of Democratic Republic of Congo,the olive baboons habitat is characterized by dense forest surrounding the Ishasa River which slowly transitions from forest edge to coarse wet grass, then short grass with sandy areas, to low bush, and then to open grassland dotted with solitary trees and tall shrubs and bushes. At Kibale National Park, in western Uganda, olive baboons live in moist, evergreen forest bordered by swamp, grassland thickets, and secondary forests. Around the park, local families have cleared forest for subsistence agriculture. With a variety of cultivated crops growing near their habitat, olive baboons have become notorious crop-raiders, supplementing their diets with maize and bananas.

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Most baboons live in hierarchical troops of 5 to 250 animals (50 or so is common), depending on specific circumstances, especially species and time of year. The Hamadrya Baboon has very large groups comprised of many smaller harems (one male with four or so females), to which females from elsewhere in the troop are recruited while still too young to breed. The other baboon species have a more promiscuous structure with a strict dominance hierarchy based on the female matriline. The Hamadryas Baboon group will typically include a younger male, but he will not attempt to mate with the females unless the older male is removed.

 

Baboon mating behavior varies greatly depending on the social structure. In the mixed groups of savanna baboons, each male can mate with any female. The allowed mating order among the males depends partially on the ranking, and fights between males are not unusual. Males sometimes try to win the friendship of females. To garner this friendship, they like to help groom the female, help care for her young, or supply them with food. Some females clearly prefer such friendly males as mates. But, males will also take infants during fights in order to protect themselves from harm (sounds mean huh??). In the harems of the Hamadryas Baboon, the males jealously guard their females, to the point of grabbing and biting the females when they wander too far away. Despite this, some males will raid harems for females. In such situations it often comes to aggressive fights by the males. Visual threats are usually accompanied by these aggressive fights. This would include a quick flashing of the eyelids accompanied by a yawn to show off the teeth. Some males succeed in taking a female from another's harem. This would be called a “takeover”.

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Author: Bailey W

Published: 02/2007

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Sources: http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/olive_baboon http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/fs/sheets/images/305med.jpg http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Papio_anubis.html http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/olive_baboon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baboon http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/olive_baboon

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Photo Credit: This image is a work of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, taken or made during the course of an employee's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.