Your N/a’an ku sê Baboons Update: Junior Baboons April 2012

Lala

Some of the ladies, including Lala, Kayla and Bloomie, are on heat at the moment with their enlarged and beautifully pink bums (well, perhaps they're not that attractive - but they certainly attract attention!). Bloomie's in particular is rather impressive and the males in the camp are enjoying this mating season, particularly Troy and Bakkies, who make incredible sounds after they have mated which sounds like the Tarzan roar! It escalates into a high pitched call and ends with a few low grunts. They do this frequently throughout the day and night - thankfully they have been neutered so we won't have any more baby baboons running around.


Lala and Troy

Troy

Bakkies


Kayla

Sarafina is still making her little grooming noise, which sounds like she's wheezing from the back of her throat and nose, as if she's trying to catch her breath. She does this every time she takes pleasure in grooming a person or another baboon. Sarafina has always been the only baboon across our 3 troops to make such a noise so we are all amused and a bit bewildered when the habit started being replicated by Shauna, one of our baby baboons, who has spent a lot of time with Fina on their walks - we can see her growing up to be just like Fina! Shauna is also the second in command after Carola in the baby baboon troop - just like Sarafina's position behind Bloomie in the Junior troop.

Sarafina

Another baby baboon who is copying her elders is Carola - who we suspect will grow up to be just like Bloomie. The alpha female of the baby troop is starting to look just like Bloomie with her long fluffy hair at the back of her neck (aka crazy scientist hair).

Bloomie

Carola

Marlin is turning into quite the acrobat - he has begun impressing everyone with some high backflips. On their walks with the volunteers, he is one of the first to climb up the tree when they reach the rest stop. He then positions himself on the edge of one of the branches, facing towards the trunk, and leaps into a backflip off the branch usually into the arms of Cila or a volunteer.

Marlin

Having two large and dominant baboon troops living directly next to one another - the Juniors and the Seniors, sometimes causes some tension between them. They regularly make aggressive calls to each other, usually coming from the Junior side first as they wind up the Seniors.

A few weeks ago four of the Seniors decided enough was enough and jumped over into the Junior camp, clearly undeterred by the electric wires on the fences. Consequently, Bloomie and Kayla leaped straight out of their camp to escape the conflict! Bloomie and Kayla have always been good escape artists and on occasions like this, their bravery to jump over the electric fence is needed, leaving the others, like Troy and Lala, to fend for themselves.

Fortunately most of the Wildlife Coordinators were nearby unwinding after a long day with a cold beer, sitting by the staff accommodation which is next to these baboon camps. Quickly alerted to the noise and commotion, Wildlife Coordinators Jo, Flo, Keith, as well as office girls Lucy and Gemma, ran to the scene and fortunately Johannes and Solomon, our expert baboon handlers were also nearby and Marlice soon joined after she heard the commotion too. Jo and Keith tried to distract the majority of the Senior baboons with food on the far side of the camp whilst Johannes and Solomon went in and opened the small gate between the two camps for the Seniors to return obediently to their camp. As most baboons are never obedient, the process took quite a long time but eventually they went back in. We have now decided to build a new camp for the Senior baboons further away which will be double the size, in the hope that the two troops will live more peacefully.