Cape baboon

Baboons spend more time on the ground than other monkeys. Cape baboons are the most terrestrial of all baboons. It is believed that their red bottoms act as a signal to help the members of the herd stick together.

Cape baboons spend most of the day walking around and foraging for food. When evening falls, they return to their permanent roost in the rocks.

Cape baboons live in complex social groups that have a strict hierarchy. Full-grown males in the herd can have their own small group of up to 10 females.

A full-grown male Cape baboon develops a thick silver mane. If he later loses his females, he will also lose this mane and instead develop a brown mane, just like a female.

• Distribution: Open, arid deserts, steppes and mountainsides in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen
• Population: The Cape baboon is common and found in relatively large areas
• Weight: Males up to 18kg and females up to 10kg
• Body length: Up to 75 centimetres
• Neck length: Up to 61 centimetres
• Sexual maturity: Males: from the age of seven, females: from the age of five
• Gestation: 170-173 days
• Number of cubs: Usually one
• Food: Fruits, grasses, roots, insects and occasionally small mammals
• Lifespan: The oldest in captivity lived to almost 38 years. Unknown in the wild