Olive baboon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Olive baboon |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| In the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Papio
|
| Species: |
anubis
|
 |
|
| Geographic range | |
The olive baboon (Papio anubis), also called the Anubis baboon, is a kind of monkey that belongs to a group called Old World monkeys. It's one of the most widespread types of baboons, meaning you can find it in many different countries across Africa. It inhabits savannahs, steppes, and forests. The common name is derived from its coat colour, which is a shade of green-grey at a distance. A variety of communications, vocal and non-vocal, facilitate a complex social structure.
Contents
Description
The Olive baboon gets its name from the color of its fur, which looks like a shade of green-grey when you see it from a distance. If you look closer, you'll see that the individual hairs have rings of yellow-brown and black, which creates the overall olive color. The hair on their faces is darker, usually dark grey or black.
Male and female Olive baboons have similar coloring, but males have a longer mane of hair around their neck and shoulders that tapers down their back.
Besides the mane, male Olive baboons are generally bigger and heavier than females. On average, males stand about 70 cm (28 inches) tall, while females are about 60 cm (24 inches) tall. Olive baboons are among the largest monkeys in the world! Their body length (not including the tail) can be anywhere from 50 to 114 cm (20 to 45 inches), with an average of about 85 cm (33 inches). When they are walking on all fours, males average about 70 cm (28 inches) high at the shoulder, and females average 55 cm (22 inches).
Their weight can vary quite a bit, typically ranging from 10 to 37 kg (22 to 82 lb). Males usually weigh around 24 kg (53 lb) on average, and females weigh about 14.7 kg (32 lb). Some large males can even weigh up to 50 kg (110 lb)!
Like other baboons, the Olive baboon has a long face that looks a bit like a dog's muzzle. They also have a long tail, which is usually between 38 and 58 cm (15 to 23 inches) long. Their tail has a unique shape; it goes straight up for a short bit and then drops down sharply, almost looking like it's broken.
Baboons also have a bare patch of skin on their rump. In the Olive baboon, this patch is smaller than in some other baboon species. Like many monkeys, the Olive baboon has special pouches in its cheeks where it can store food to eat later.
Distribution and Habitat
The Olive baboon lives in a wide band across Africa, covering about 25 countries near the equator. Their territory stretches from the western part of Africa (like Mali) all the way east to countries like Ethiopia and Tanzania. They can also be found in some isolated groups in the mountains of the Sahara Desert.
Because their range is so large, the Olive baboon's territory sometimes overlaps with the territories of other baboon species. When this happens, different types of baboons can sometimes have babies together, creating hybrids. Scientists are still studying these hybrid baboons to learn more about them.
Olive baboons are very adaptable and can live in many different kinds of environments. They are often thought of as animals that live in the savannah, which are wide grasslands, especially those near open woodlands. However, they also live in rainforests and even deserts! For instance, in countries like Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Olive baboons live in dense tropical forests.
Social Structure
Olive baboons live in groups that can range in size from 15 to as many as 150 individuals. These groups are made up of several males, many females, and their young. Within the group, each baboon has a social rank, which is like their position or status. This rank often depends on how dominant they are.
For females, their social rank is often passed down from their mothers. Daughters tend to have a similar rank to their mothers, and the adult females form the main part of the group's social system. Female relatives often stick together and form their own smaller groups within the larger troop. Related females are usually friendly with each other, grooming each other and helping each other out in disagreements within the group. These strong bonds between female relatives happen because females usually stay with the group they were born into their whole lives.
Sometimes, if a group gets too big and there isn't enough food for everyone, the group might split up. But even then, related females usually stay together. Females with higher social ranks tend to get more food, have more opportunities to have babies, and have more support from others in the group. Studies have shown that high-ranking females often have babies more frequently, and their babies are more likely to survive. Their daughters also tend to grow up faster.
However, being high-ranking can also have challenges. Some studies suggest that high-ranking females might experience more stress, which could affect their health or ability to have babies, although this idea is still being discussed by scientists. Another study suggests that high-ranking females can sometimes be bothered by males who are new to the group.
Females often form special, long-lasting friendships with males in their group. These friendships are helpful for both the male and the female. Males benefit because these friendships often start soon after they join a new group, helping them fit in more easily. They might also have a chance to have babies with their female friend later on. Females benefit because the male friend can help protect them and their babies from danger or from other baboons. Sometimes, male friends will even help look after a female's baby, allowing her to go find food without having to carry or watch the infant constantly. These friendships can be quite strong, with the pair grooming each other, staying close, traveling, finding food, sleeping, and even helping to raise babies together. They also support each other in fights against other baboons.
Females with high social ranks can even have friendships with multiple males at the same time. These friendships also help females avoid unwanted attention from males who want to mate with them. If a female isn't interested in a male, she can call on her male friends to chase him away.
Males establish their dominance in the group more forcefully than females. When a male baboon becomes an adult, he usually leaves the group he was born into and joins a new one. Adult males compete strongly with each other to gain access to females. Having a higher rank means better chances to mate and getting to food first. Because of this, there is often a lot of fighting among males for rank, with younger males constantly trying to move up. When a new male joins a group, he often challenges older males for dominance. Older males who lose their high rank sometimes move to a different group. The younger males who took their place might sometimes bother them. Interestingly, older males tend to have more supportive and equal friendships with each other compared to younger males, and they might even team up against younger males.
Even though there is a clear hierarchy, baboons seem to make decisions about where the group should go in a way that is almost like a vote. The group is more likely to follow a direction if several baboons agree on it, rather than just following the most dominant individuals.
Reproduction and Parenting
_suckling,_Semliki_Wildlife_Reserve.jpg)
_with_juvenile.jpg)
Female Olive baboons are ready to have babies when they are about seven to eight years old, and males are ready between seven and 10 years old.
Females are the main caregivers for their babies, but males also play a role. When a baby is first born, it has black fur and bright pink skin. For the first few days, the baby might not be able to hold on by itself and needs its mother to support it. By about a week old, the baby's grip is stronger, and it can cling to its mother's fur on its own. Around two weeks old, the baby starts to explore the area around its mother for short periods, but it stays close. As the baby gets older, it spends more time away from its mother.
Generally, mothers with higher social ranks tend to be more relaxed parents than mothers with lower ranks, who often keep their babies very close. This difference lasts for about the first eight weeks of the baby's life.
Olive baboons don't seem to share parenting duties widely among all females, but a female might groom a baby that isn't hers. Younger females, who haven't had their own babies yet, are more likely to care for another female's young. One idea is that this helps them practice for when they become mothers themselves. Babies born to first-time mothers sometimes have a harder time surviving than those born to mothers with experience.
Adult males in the group also care for the babies, especially if they are likely to be the father. Males will groom babies, helping to keep them clean and free of parasites, and they can calm babies down when they are upset. They might also protect babies from dangers, like predators such as chimpanzees. Sometimes, adult males will use babies as a kind of shield during arguments with other males, as other males are less likely to attack when a baby is present.
Communication
Olive baboons use many different sounds and facial expressions to communicate with each other. Adult baboons have a variety of calls. Adult males make a "roargrunt" sound when they are showing off to each other. They make a "cough-bark" or "cough geck" sound when they see low-flying birds or humans they don't know. A "wa-hoo" call is used to warn others about predators or neighboring groups, especially at night or when they are feeling stressed. Other sounds include "broken grunting" (quiet, quick grunts during less intense disagreements), "pant-grunts" (when disagreements become more serious), "shrill barks" (loud calls when a sudden danger appears), and "screams" (continuous high-pitched sounds when they are feeling strong emotions).
Facial expressions are also very important. The most common one is "lipsmacking," which is used in many different situations. To threaten other baboons, they might raise their eyebrows.
Diet
One of the main reasons the Olive baboon is found in so many different places is because it is omnivorous, meaning it eats both plants and animals. This allows it to find food in nearly any environment.
Their diet usually includes a large variety of plants, as well as small animals without backbones (like insects) and small mammals and birds. They eat leaves, grass, roots, bark, flowers, fruit, lichens, tubers (like potatoes), seeds, mushrooms, corms, and rhizomes. Corms and rhizomes are especially important when there isn't much rain, because grass loses a lot of its food value during droughts. In dry, desert areas, small animals like insects, grubs, worms, spiders, and scorpions are a big part of their diet.
Olive baboons also actively hunt prey. They hunt small animals like rodents, birds, and even other monkeys. They can sometimes catch small antelope, like Thomson's gazelles. They will also hunt farm animals like sheep, goats, and chickens, which can make up about one-third of the meat they eat from hunting. Hunting is often done by groups, with both males and females participating.
In Eritrea, Olive baboons have a special relationship with the endangered elephants there. The baboons use the water holes that the elephants dig, and the elephants use the baboons, who are often in the treetops, as an early warning system for danger.
Conservation Status
As of 2025, the Olive baboon is listed as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List. This means that scientists believe it is not currently threatened with extinction. This is because it is found over a very large area, has a big population worldwide, and its population is not decreasing across its entire range.
However, there might be fewer baboons in dense forests possibly due to competition with other animals or diseases. Like most other baboon species, they are sometimes killed by people because they raid crops or hunt small farm animals.
