Considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians, the Hamadryas Baboon is distinguished from other baboons by the male 's long, silver-grey shoulder cape, and the pink or red rather than black face. Like all baboons, the Hamadryas Baboon is a large monkey with a dog-like face, pronounced brow ridges, relatively long limbs with short digits, rather coarse fur, and a relatively short tail, which in this species has a tufted tip. The male is considerably larger than the female, and has a heavy cape, bushy cheeks, and large canine teeth. While the male Hamadryas Baboon develops a silvery-grey coat, the juvenile and female are brown. Like all baboons, the Hamadryas Baboon is primarily terrestrial, but will sleep in trees or on cliffs at night. As an opportunistic feeder, it will take a wide variety of foods, including grass, fruit, roots and tubers, seeds, leaves, buds and insects.Baboons may also hunt small mammals, including hares and young gazelles.
The female Hamadryas Baboon usually gives birth to a single young, after a gestation period of 170 to 173 days. Breeding may take place at any time of the year, but the births typically peak between May and
…show more content…
They require a water source nearby and they live at altitudes up to 2,600 m (8,530 ft). The Hamadryas Baboons are quadrupedal, mainly terrestrial primates. They are highly social animals, which display a complex, multi-level social structure. The basic unit of social organization is the OMU, or one male unit, in which a central male, the leader, aggressively herds and controls from one to nine females and their offspring. Members of a OMU forage together, travel together, and sleep together. Males typically restrict the social interactions of females and juveniles within their OMU, suppressing aggression between females, and maintaining nearly exclusive reproductive access to the mature