Chacma baboons

Roaming along the urban edge: dispersing male baboon

| Nature on the Edge
A forlorn young dispersing baboon in an urban setting
Taking a nap on the pavement
No caption necessary
Where to from here?

Some years ago this young baboon came on a ‘recce’ round our neighbourhood.  It’s not an easy life  when that testosterone kicks in and the males leave the natal troop to hook up with another.  Dispersing along the urban edge brings a raft of problems not least finding the way through the suburbs. To assist them they are often darted with a sedative and transferred by vehicle to another area where there are nearby troops. The transition and being accepted into another troop takes time, and it’s not always successful.

Hat’s off to baboons

| Nature on the Edge
A rustle of fur.

Sunbleached tresses, all windblown and tousled.  The Cape Peninsula Chacma baboons have a touch of the ‘beachcomber’ in their looks.  They’re rather unique in that they include shellfish and marine invertebrates in their diet and it’s quite a treat to observe them foraging in rock pools.

In contrast here is a shot of a male baboon from the arid regions of Namibia; it’s a wonder that baboons can survive in such extreme environments with little available water and soaring temperatures.  Recently I came across an article on their behavioural adaptations and the ability to thermoregulate the body core.  Temperature fluctuations occur when drinking water and sand bathing and could alter as much as 5.3*C.

Short back and sides, sparsely clad fur.

The Baboon species is the most adaptable of the non-human primates inhabiting a range of habitats from coastal, savannah, forest and desert ……. and some might even say that they’re pretty adept at living on the urban edge.

 

 

The Baboon Baby Pics

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It was one of those perfect spring days, warm and sunny and the local baboon troop came down to forage along the beach.  Playful, curious and full of energy, the youngest baboons explore their surroundings.  Observing them from a distance and not intruding into their space (keeping 10m away) is part of a photographer’s required etiquette around these wild animals.

The storm brings a feast for Cape baboons

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Two days have passed since the storm and the sandy beach where I photographed the galloping zebra has altered in the aftermath. Today it is strewn with huge piles of kelp,  dislodged by the powerful waves and borne in on the spring high tide.

The zebra gallops across the sandy expanse.
Kelp washed ashore after the storm

The kelp brought with it a bonanza for the baboons, a feast of  mussels still attached to the fronds.  The baboons living along the coast supplement their diet with this highly nutritious resource which is rich in omega oils.  They tucked in with gusto, and I noticed that some of the older females had packed their cheek pouches until they bulged into hanging pouches.  There was a lot of ‘chatter’ as they sucked and chewed and a delightful sound of ‘hiccups’ as one greedy adult male gulped down the morsels far too quickly.