Guinea Baboon Papio papio

Head and body length of P. paio is 610-762 mm; tail length is 382-610 mm. Young baboons are brown, becoming ash gray as they age. Females retain the brown coat longer than do males. Older males also develop a heavy mane around the neck and shoulders.

P. papio inhabits open woodland, savannahs, grassland and rocky hill country. They are primarily diurnal and terrestrial, but are capable climbers and have been known to sleep in trees. They are strong swimmers and have excellent vision. P. papio is omnivorous, eating whatever is available. In Kenya during the dry season, grass may be 90 percent of the diet, while along the coast of South Africa marine creatures are a staple.

P. papio lives in small trilevel social groups which enable the animals to adapt to spare food sources and scarce sleeping sites. The largest social unit is the troop, which is usually comprised of 100 or more individuals with the highest recorded size of 750 animals. These troops gather together at night to sleep and in the morning, break into bands of about 30-90 animals. Each band consists of several single male units with 1-9 females and their young. While all adult females live in single-male units, young adult males generally have loose affiliation with a unit or live alone.

Average estrous cycle for P. papio is 30 days, gestation is 170-173 days, producing a single young. Infants cling to their mother's breast, but soon move to riding on her back. Females have their first estrous at 3.5 to 4 years and males are sexually mature at five years, but are not able to mate successfully until 7-10 years of age.

They are found in Senegal, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau to Mauretania and Mali.