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Olive baboon | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Olive baboon

Papio anubis

MammaliaSavannah, woodland, forest edge and montane grasslandLeast Concern

Field profile

The olive baboon is the most widely distributed baboon, living in large mixed troops of dozens of animals with both sexes present. Females stay in their natal troop for life while males transfer between troops. It is among the best studied wild primates in Africa.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-03-06

Olive baboon

One baboon troop changed its social culture

In the 1980s, tuberculosis from a rubbish tip killed the most aggressive males of a Kenyan olive baboon troop. The troop that remained was markedly less aggressive, and stayed that way for years after every original survivor had gone.

Read with evidence →