The Hamadryas Baboon Papio hamadryas is common in the Abha /
Tanoumah area of the Asir Mountains with large groups seen all along the
escarpments. It is the northernmost of all the baboons and is distinguished
from other baboons by the male’s long, silver-grey shoulder cape (mane and
mantle), and the pink or red rather than black face and rump. They are large
monkeys with a dog-like face, pronounced brow ridges, relatively long limbs
with short digits, rather coarse fur, and a relatively short tail. The male is
considerably larger than the female, often twice as large, and has a heavy
silvery-grey coat, bushy cheeks, and large canine teeth whilst the juvenile and
females are brown, with dark brown skin on the face and rump. Males may have a
body measurement of up to 80 cm and weigh 20–30 kg; females weigh 10–15 kg and
have a body length of 40–45 cm. The tail adds a further 40–60 cm to the length,
and ends in a small tuft. They occur from north-eastern Africa, mainly in
Ethiopia, but also eastern Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and northern Somalia as
well as the Arabian Peninsula, in Saudi Arabia and Yemen where it is the only
native non-human primate. In Saudi Arabia they inhabit arid sub-desert, steppe,
hilly areas, escarpments at elevations of up to 3,000 metres requiring cliffs
for sleeping and finding water. They are primarily terrestrial, but will sleep
in trees or on cliffs at night. An opportunistic feeder, it will take a wide
variety of foods, including grass, fruit, roots and tubers, seeds, leaves, buds
and insects. The female usually gives birth to a single young with the new-born
having black fur and pink skin, and is suckled for up to 15 months. Each adult
male controls a small group of females (a harem) and their young, and remains
bonded with the same females over several years, aggressively ‘herding’ any
that wander, and retaining exclusive mating rights over the group. The females
will often compete to groom and stay close to the male, and it is the male who
dictates the group’s movements. The Hamadryas Baboon is listed on Appendix II
of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Recent
studies have suggested that the population of Hamadryas Baboons in Arabia
colonised the peninsula much longer ago than previously thought, and shows a
considerable amount of genetic variation compared to the African population.
