African Primates

Primates of Africa

Africa hosts 51 primate species in habitats varying from forests to savannah woodlands

Baboons, vervet monkeys and chimpanzees are not dependent on trees and can survive in savannah and sub desert areas.

Primates have complex social organizations and the majority live in female-bonded groups.

A common feature among primates is evolution of the “primate hand.” This is a opposable thumb that is used for climbing and eating, and tool making in the case of
apes.

Baboons and apes have well-developed dexterity of the hand with the tips of the thumb and fore finger meeting at right angles.

In apes, the dexterity of the hands is very close to that of humans –and chimps are a good example.

Grooming is useful for social bonding and is effected by use of the mouth and hands.

The apes are a category of primates represented in Africa by gorilla, chimpanzees and bonobo. Genetically, they are the closest primates to man

Chimpanzees

Description
Chimpanzees are large, hairy and tailless. They have big heads, flattened face with a small nose and forward facing eyes. They have same number and type of teeth as man.

Weight
females weigh between 30-40 kg, while males can reach 180 kg

Diet
feeding mainly on fruits mostly gathered from trees and the young leaves of plants. They also feed on flowers, pith, and bark and also derive additional nutrients from insects and some meat too- young antelopes, goats, and other primates such as young baboons and colobus monkeys.

Intelligence
is exhibited by their ability as articulate tool users. They can pick up small objects between thumbs and side of the index finger. They can prepare and use grass stems and sticks to fish for insects.

Breeding
A female on heat may mate with several males. It gives birth to a single off spring, which is independent after about 4 years.

Chimpanzee Troops
The chimps are individualistic and do not live in cohesive groups like gorillas or monkeys.

They live in communities, with up to 100 animals sharing a common home range

Pawprints

Chimpanzee Pawprints

Male Baboon in Maroela tree

Adult male baboons like exposing their genitals to impress or maybe intimidate other males

Daily Life

the days begins about 7 or 8 am when they come down from their sleeping places in cliffs or trees.

The day starts off with adults grooming each other while the juveniles play.

Forming a cohesive unit they will move off in columns of two or three, walking until they begin feeding.

Fanning out, they feed as they move along, often traveling five or six miles a day.

They forage for about three hours in the morning, rest during the heat of the day and then forage again in the afternoon before returning to their sleeping places by about 6 p.m.

Behavioral Characteristics

Baboons use over 30 vocalizations ranging from grunts to barks to screams.
Non vocal gestures include yawns, lip smacking and shoulder shrugging

Lastly more time is spent on mutual grooming - a crucial aspect to forming bonds among individuals as well as keeping the baboons clean and free of external parasites

Baboons

General

The Chacma baboon are gregarious animals, occurring in troops of about 50 or more, sleeping, traveling, feeding and socializing.

A troop can consist of 7 to 8 males and roughly twice as many females, juveniles and infants.

Baboons are the best adapted of the terrestrial primates and as such they are the most widespread African primate

Characteristics

Intelligent and crafty, they can be agricultural pests, so they are treated as vermin rather than wildlife.

Description

Nearly one-half the size of adult males, females lack the male's ruff (long hairs around the neck), but otherwise they are similar in appearance

Breeding

mating is frequent at very short bursts usually only about 15 - 20 seconds.
They breed at any time of the year and their gestation period is about 6 months

The basic unit is a harem - one dominant male surrounding himself with a number of breeding females

Diet
A baboons’ menu include grasses, flowers, fruits, seeds and shoots.

In the dry season, they uproot grasses and feed on the underground stems, a niche they share with no other mammal except warthogs.

Baboons will also supplement their diet with vertebrate prey: fish, lizards and young of ground nesting birds, and bird or crocodile eggs

Baboon Society
is a strictly disciplined one.
Each member of the troop knows his status and ruled over by an elite group of elders.

Any member of the clan who tries to usurp another’s position is taken to task by the dominant males who gang up against the offender resulting in an explosion of screaming nd squawking

The degree of dominance among ruling members of the clan is shown by the angle at which they hold their tails: the higher the angle, the more dominant the male.

Enemies & Defense Strategies

baboons are fierce fighters and in a group can confront and scare off predators such as leopard.

Males may confront predators like leopards or cheetahs by forming a line and strutting in a threatening manner while baring their large canines and screaming.

Vervet Monkey

Troop Size
Moving in troops of about 20, they feed on young shoots, seeds and fruit but occasionally will eat insects and birds eggs.

Monkeys

General

excellent climbers, primates are characterized by a complex brain, good vision and means of grasping.
Found throughout southern Africa - typically found in riverine vegetation and acacia trees. Also found in our garden and house where their diet tends towards bread and fruit from the kitchen. What a way to earn a crumb?

Description
Vervet monkeys are long-legged, long-tailed, omnivorous monkeys.

The vervet monkey is light coloured with a black face; males have a pale blue scrotum. This monkey weighs between 5 and 9kg

Behaviour
Dominant males will exaggerate their status by walking with a swagger and squatting with obvious ostentation.

Monkeys are generally social, though they exhibit occasional rivalry.

When attempting to intimidate a rival, a monkey stands at its tallest, with the effect that it looks bigger than it really is.

They move about in trees by running along the branches on all fours

They have an infuriating habit of trying to steal bread and fruit from out of our house every couple of days but get away with very little and besides it's fun chasing them - webmaster

Pawprints

Gorilla - found in Uganda, DRC and other equatorial rainforest countries

Apes

Have very advanced social and communication systems.

They come close to humans in the use of facial expressions and body language; using both arms and hands.

Apart from mother-infant contact, apes groom each other in the usual primate fashion- rank determines who grooms whom

Touch is used extensively as part of their communications.

Apes are slow to mature, with the young reaching adolescence at about the age of 8 years.

All apes build nests- in this case, a platform on which to sleep securely at night: chimps up the trees and gorillas on the ground.

Generally all the apes are endangered and vulnerable.

The problem is that they occur naturally in very small densities and face immediate threat of habitat loss throughout their ranges.

At Nata Lodge they feed them for a wonderful photo session - but please turn off your flash as it blinds the Bush Babies

Bush Baby

Description
Characterised by its loud, shrill cries at night similar to a human baby.

Bush babies have large, round eyes for good night vision and bat like ears that enable them to track insect prey in the dark.

A powerful leaper, the bush baby pushes off with its powerful hind legs and holds its arms up, leaping more than 6 meters.

Life Expectancy - 14 years in captivity

Behaviour

They are active only after sundown.
Look for these elusive tree creatures high up in trees.

They spend their days in hollow trees and forage among the treetops at night for insects and fruit.

Very agile in trees but awkward on the ground, hopping in a frog like fashion.

They are usually solitary, but may group together to form small and temporary communities.

During the day, they hide to avoid harm from eagles and large snakes.

General
Bush babies consist of about 18 species found in Africa - of which there are 2 types : the lesser bush baby and the greater bush baby

Pawprints

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