More than just a cheeky backside

Once revered by ancient Egyptians as representatives of the Egyptian god of learning, hamadryas baboons are also referred to as sacred baboons. Hamadryas have a unique and complicated social structure and can live in troops of up to several hundred individuals.

Social living

Hamadryas baboons are highly social primates known for their grooming within the troop. This grooming helps to reinforce bonds and maintain group cohesion. They also communicate in a variety of ways including calls, scents and gestures. The basic social group starts as a ‘harem’ or ‘one male unit’ – featuring a dominant male and up to a dozen females. In the wild, two or three harems form a ‘clan’, and the males are usually related. Several clans can then combine to make up a band. When they gather at dusk to sleep, they form a ‘troop’ which can be anywhere up to 800 individuals.

Whose coat is whose?

Male hamadryas rock a silvery-grey coat colour and have a very distinctive mane around their head. On the other hand, females have no mane, are brownish in colour, and are only half the size of their male counterparts.

At the Zoo

How do you take your eggs?

Hamadryas baboons are opportunistic omnivores, dining on everything from grass, roots, and tubers to fruit, insects, and even small animals. Their diet at the Zoo varies to reflect this and the troop receive insects and bones to eat. When it comes to eggs, they aren’t too fussy. Hard-boiled or scrambled, our troop happily polishes off around 18 free range eggs every week.

A home with a view

At Auckland Zoo, the baboon troop live on a grassy knoll, offering high vantage points. They have easy access to a water moat which doubles as a natural barrier from our visitor path.

In 2024, a new shelter was installed in their habitat to support the three male-led harems, which each need their own separate spaces. The shelters are designed to mimic fallen trees commonly found in the wild – blending into the environment while providing functional spaces for the baboons to engage in natural behaviours.

The youngest baboons can often be seen in the tree at the front of their habitat, where they enjoy climbing and playing at the very top. 

In the Wild

Origin: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen

Habitat: Terrestrial (shrubland, grassland, rocky areas like inland cliffs, mountain peaks)

Conservation status: IUCN – Least concern

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