YELLOW BABOON 9 



The National Zoological Gardens has been indebted on 

 more than one occasion to my friend, Mr. Frank Pym, 

 of the Kingwilliamstown Museum, for examples of this 

 pretty monkey. It appears to be nothing like so hardy 

 in captivity as its commoner relation, the Vervet, and is 

 of a more restless disposition, and never seems to vs^hoUy 

 overcome its natural shyness. Mr. Pym tells me it is 

 seldom seen far from the forest, although it occasionally 

 makes short trips into the mealie fields after the grain 

 and pumpkin crops. " Its home is undoubtedly in the 

 thickest part of the forest," he writes, "and it is extra- 

 ordinarily shy and difficult to shoot. The males occa- 

 sionally give vent to a call, which may be described as 

 a quick series of coughing grunts. This can be heard 

 at a long distance, and is surprisingly vociferous for so 

 ■ small an animal. If the vegetation is sufficiently dense, 

 the Samango does not make off when approached, but 

 conceals himself in a wonderful manner, not even its 

 tail showing. I have never heard of its associating 

 with the commoner Vervet. Its food consists of fruits, 

 berries, leaves and insects. One I had in captivity 

 caught and devoured a chicken." 



Papio cynocephalus. Yellow Baboon. Gecle Baviaan. 



The colour varies from an ochreous to a brownish 

 yellow. A very old male in the Pretoria Zoo is of a 

 greenish tinge much resembling one form of the Chacma. 

 The underside is paler and the whiskers are yellow. 

 It is a much thinner, lankier built animal than the 

 Chacma, with relatively longer limbs and shorter muzzle. 

 It is the East African species, and within our limits 

 occurs in Portuguese South-East Africa. The National 

 Zoological Gardens contain two males from the first- 



