Munzir saw Hamadryas
Baboon Papio hamadryas whilst birding
the Raydah Escarpment near Abha. This is a very good place the see the species
with large troops somwtimes present. This species 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. 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. Males may have a body measurement of up to 80 cm and weigh 20–30
kg. They occur in 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. I thank Munzir for sending me his photo and for
allowing me to use it on my website.
