Posts Tagged: Baboons
9

The Hard Life Of The Alpha Male

Laurence R. Gesquiere, a research associate in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton, and colleagues report in the journal Science that in five troops of wild baboons in Kenya studied over nine years, alpha males showed very high stress levels, as high as those of the lowest-ranking males.

The stress, they suggested, was probably because of the demands of fighting off challengers and guarding access to fertile females. Beta males, who fought less and had considerably less mate guarding to do, had much lower stress levels. They had fewer mating opportunities than the alphas, but they did get some mating in, more than any lower-ranking [...]

15

Baboons Like Pinot Noir, I Like Baboons

Here is of those moments when the internet shows you that there are other people who pretty much know exactly how your dumb brain operates, either because their brains operate the same dumb way, or, more frighteningly, because their brains are smarter and they're hoping to somehow profit off this fact. Even worse, they work faster than you: I read a story at Discovery this morning about how South African wineries have been having a problem with baboons sneaking into their vineyards and eating the grapes.

13

Baboons Now As Smart As Bears

Tourists in Cape Town, South Africa, are being victimized by a gang of baboons, who have "learned how to open car doors and jump through windows in pursuit of tasty sandwiches and snacks."