Baboons Behaving Badly
While browsing around the curio stalls after a visit to the Falls, I watched as a
large male baboon jumped from a tree on to a parked van, denting the roof in the process.
He then casually stretched out on the roof, leaning over the side to watch the passing parade.
At the same time a group of youngsters was clambering over the van,
testing the windows and playing with the aerial and mirrors.
Then a couple of delinquants, after sliding down the front windscreen,
found the windscreen beading too interesting to ignore and
within seconds started pulling the rubber away.
It was time to intervene and prevent further damage, but as the baboons bounded away,
I knew it wouldn't be long before they moved on to another vehicle.
Good Mothers
As can be seen from some of the other pictures, female baboons make good mothers and
are very protective of their young.
Young babies will cling to their mother's underside, but once they're a little older,
they ride astride the mother's back.
Females reach sexual maturity at six to seven years and give birth every two years.
The babies are weaned at six to eight months.
Baboon Captions
Row 1:
1.Baboons with babies on backs, Lower Zambezi, Zambia
2.Baboon with baby on her back, Lower Zambezi, Zambia
3.Baboon carrying twins, Lower Zambezi, Zambia
Row 2:
1.Baboon scratching its head, Victoria Falls, Zambia
2.Baboon nibbling orange peel, Victoria Falls, Zambia
3.Baboon with orange peels, Victoria Falls, Zambia
Row 3:
1.Baboon mother with infant, Victoria Falls, Zambia
2.Young baboon with plastic bottle, Victoria Falls, Zambia
3.Young baboon playing with bottle, Victoria Falls, Zambia
Row 4:
1.Baboon trying a new taste, Victoria Falls, Zambia
2.Young baboon playing on van, Victoria Falls, Zambia
3.Young baboon hanging from van window, Vic Falls, Zambia
Row 5:
1.Young baboon fiddling with van's window, Vic Falls, Zambia
2.Baboon pulling on window beading, Vic Falls, Zambia
3.Baboons pulling beading from van, Vic Falls, Zambia
Row 6:
1.Baboon male lying on van roof, Victoria Falls, Zambia
2.Young baboon sitting in tree, Victoria Falls, Zambia
3.Baboon mother with youngster, Victoria Falls, Zambia
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