female Olive Baboon with young

The Olive Baboon (Papio anubis), also called the Anubis Baboon, is the most widely ranging species of all baboons. It occurs in a belt stretching from southern Mauritania and Guinea towards east into the Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. Within this area, the primates mostly favour open savannahs, but there are even populations within tropical rainforests. The animals are active during the day, feeding on fruits, grass, roots as well as insects and small vertebrates (even other primates). Olive Baboons live in groups which can reach a size of up to 150 individuals and are characterized by a strong hierarchy between its members.

As in other baboon species, Olive Baboons often become used to humans and lose their natural timidity. Consequently, they sometimes enter fields or plantations where they do a lot of damage. Due to such conflicts, the monkeys are commonly hunted and considered a vermin. I have observed these interesting animals in the Pendjari National Park in northern Benin during a journey in February 2012. Also here, the animals do not show fear of humans and closely approach people for food. This can become relatively uncomfortable and I do not want to imagine a fight with an angry baboon having canines several centimeters long!

old male Olive Baboon

obscene Olive Baboon

group of baboons at waterhole

three baboons