Hamadryas Baboon
From Freepedia
| Hamadryas Baboon Conservation status: Lower risk (nt) | ||||||||||||||
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| Papio hamadryas (Linnaeus, 1758) |
The Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas) is a baboon from the Old World monkey family. They are the northernmost of all the baboons; their range extends from the Red Sea in Egypt to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. They also live on the Arabian peninsula though it is uncertain if this population was introduced by humans or not.
Apart from the striking size difference between the sexes (males are often twice as large as females) which is common to all baboons, they differ also in coloration. Males are silver-white colored and have a pronounced mane, while the females are maneless and brown. The face is colored red.
Hamadryas Baboon live in semi-desert areas, savannahs and rocky areas, they require cliffs for sleeping and possibilities to drink water. They live together in groups of Alpha males (so-called Harems) and up to 15 females which they lead and guard. Two to three groups unite repeatedly to form federations.
Hamadryas Baboons are omnivorous and are adapted to their relatively dry habitat. They are not discriminating in their search for food, eating anything from grasses and roots to insects and vertebrates.
The Hamadryas Baboon was a sacred animal to the ancient Egyptians as the attendant of Thoth, and so, is also called the Sacred Baboon.
The loss of their habitat by transformation in field and pastureland represents the main threat of the Hamadryas Baboon, its natural enemies (leopards and lions) having been nearly exterminated in their range. IUCN lists them as "Lower Risk".
