22 October 2010 Observations 12:10-1:15pm

Weather: Temp - 52F/11C, Wind - 10mph, Sunny at the moment but, it doesn't seem like that will stay for long.


I'm sick.  I've had a hacking cough since Tuesday and have been so congested that breathing is a little laborious.  And it's really cold today.  But, moving about does help some.  And, the group's list of behaviors are due on Wednesday so hopefully this will help to get things done.


On my last visit, I found that I was a bit overwhelmed in observing behaviors.  All six of these baboons are doing so many different things, it's hard to keep up.  So, in following Dr. Basil's advice, I'm just going to focus on the simple and not what I think it means.

I recently read these articles that I think will help in narrowing down my observations:

Abegglen, J.-J., V. Dasser, H. Sigg, and A. Stobla.  “Life History of Hamadryas Baboons:

Physical Development, Infant Mortality, Reproductive Parameters and Family Relationships.”  Primates 23.4 (1982): 473-487.

Barrett, L. and S.P. Henzi.  “The historical socioecology of savanna baboons (Papio

hamadryas).”  Journal of Zoology 265 (2005): 215-226. 

Beck, Benjamin B.  “Tool Use in Captive Hamadryas Baboons.”  Primates 13.3 (1972):

276-296.

Schreier, Amy L. and Larissa Swedell.  “The Fourth Level of Social Structure in a Multi-

Level Society: Ecological and Social Functions of Clans in Hamadryas Baboons.”  American Journal of Primatology 71 (2009): 948-955.

The Abegglen, Barrett, and Schreier articles focus on the structure of a baboon clan and their basic behaviors.  For instance, the clan is a patriarchal society.  There will be one male to many females, and the status of a female is based on her breeding ability.  Males will also steal females from other clans.  Their society has four levels - small groups called harems, two or more harems unite to form a clan, four or more clans unite to form a band, and several bands unite to form a troop.  In the wild, a troop can consist of up to 200 baboons.


In focusing on the simple actions and recalling the articles, I noticed several behaviors:

• Foraging - the oldest adult male inspects food or water for 3-5 seconds before picking it up.  If he takes it, the rest of the harem will take food/water from that exact location.
• Resting - Baboon in a seated position with no movement and eyes are closed.
• Gain attention - When the juveniles want attention from their mother or another female adult, they grab and hold the hair near the adult's face for 2-5 secs.  So far, I've only seen them do this when they want to nurse.  I wander if they do this at other times or if it is purely a queue for nursing time.