Hamadryas Baboon (redirected from sacred baboon)

Hamadryas Baboon 

(Papio hamadryas), a monkey of the genus of true baboons, the family Ceropithecidae, order of primates. Body length in males, 75-80 cm, with tails 53-60 cm long; weight, 20-30 kg. Weight of females, 10-15 kg. The coat is gray, without down, and the males develop a luxuriant, silver gray mantle. The females have brownish gray coats. The animals have well-developed, red ischial calluses. The muzzle is long and there are strong fangs and strongly developed cheek pouches.

The hamadryas baboon is found in Africa (eastern Ethiopia, eastern Sudan, and northern Somalia) and Asia (the Arabian Peninsula). It lives in open areas in the steppes and savannas, sleeping among rocks. It is omnivorous. A troop may consist of 40-80 members and sometimes as many as 200. The leaders are the strongest males. A family of hamadryas baboons contains one male and one to four females and their offspring. The gestation period is about 170 days. Life expectancy is 20-30 years. The hamadryas baboon is often kept in zoos and has been studied in laboratories and scientific institutes (for example, in the USSR at Sukhumi).

M. F. NESTURKH