Fynbos Friday 35: The Chacma Baboon

This week we venture away from the Floral side, and venture into the fascinating world of Papio hamadryas.   I am very fond of Bobbos.  We get a lot of them on the farm.  Have a look see at our clip on Cellar visitors

There is a massive troop that’s been entertaining itself in the sun on our winery roof every other day. They might be boisterous and cause a bit of damage to the vines, eat our grapes and cause a stir once in a while but we have to realize that we are in their territory so one cannot be too precious about how we treat our faunal neighbours.   The fires of the season have most effectively wiped out the entire food source for the winter months for these guys and I suppose to a certain extent they have had to rely on blocks of chardonnay and shiraz throughout the entire valley.   You may have seen a few articles flying around during harvest season about the baboon raiders, like this one. The Proteas are getting nailed as well, they are especially fond of the sugarbushes right now, suppose that sweet nectar is too much to resist.

Baboons around the country vary massively in terms of colour variation, depending on age, sex, and geography.  Our Cape Chacma’s tend to be quite dark and somewhat larger in general than other baboons around SA.  Their upper canines are strongly developed, with the length in old adult males reaching up to 60 mm.    These canines are massive, and as sharp as a razor blade.   I would not like to see the business end of an aggravated male that’s for sure.  I don’t even think my newly acquired Muay Thai skills would be much of a help against a strong willed big male.    The average troop size is 40, the largest can be up to 130, and they do travel.  Their home range can be anything up to 30 kilometres sq.

And I especially enjoyed this piece on the diet from Skinner et al. The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion “Food: they are omnivorous, feeding primarily on fruit, leaves and invertebrates throughout the year.  DeVore and Hall (1965), for instance, stated that it is simpler to list the items not eaten by baboons than to describe the items they do eat. “

And if you haven’t seen this yet, look out for  Eric in Its a piece of cake.  Its an awesome book for the kiddies.  James is utterly fascinated with Eric and requests this as his bedtime story more than any book right now.   Love the Carrot cake vibe there.   For some interesting facts and a great read follow African Penguin on Twitter

And please take time to visit Baboon Matters and get involved, take a walk with them, sign the petition.  The Bobbos need our help.