A Day in the Life of a Baboon Researcher

The view from the mountain forest, Tokai, where I work overlooking the valley by the Atlantic coast where I live. Paradise. 

African sunrise

I wake up well before dawn and get dressed in the dim light of my one-bedroom flat. Lately, I’ve been wearing three layers of pants and four or five shirts to shelter me from the cold and rain. I pack my lunch and collect my binoculars, notebooks, data sheets, and rain poncho in my field backpack before being picked up and driven to the Tokai forest a few miles distance towards the mountains. When myself and my fellow researchers (Catharine, Ilana, and Lucy) arrive at the lower pine plantations of Tokai, the sunrise is just beginning and streams of golden sunlight pierce the gray clouds. We begin to hike the twisted paths up the gradual montane slopes to find our baboon troops. Most days of the week we spend with MT1, the large troop of 70 individuals. Once or twice a week we locate and study the smaller JT1 troop. Fortunately, the baboons have been sleeping in tall eucalyptus or pine trees on the lowest level of the mountain and we don’t have to walk far before we hear their grunts, hollers, and wahoos from the branches above our heads. Baboons are not the quietest of animals, to say the least. We record what time we contact the troop and begin to take roll call, identifying all adult females and males that we see throughout the day.

Then comes the fun part. Sample collection. The baboons sleep in the tallest forest trees, precariously balanced on slender branches near the tree trunks. During the short days of winter, they descend to the ground a little after 9:00 AM, giving us ample time to stand below them for our precious samples. It’s dangerous business placing yourself right beneath a cluster of baboons. You never know what will spontaneously fall from above… Our goal is to collect two sample types for DNA, parasite, and hormone analysis: fecal and urine. All of us come to the field equipped with baggies and metal poles that look oddly like butterfly nets. We spread out underneath the sleeping trees and crane our necks to stare at the baboons above. You see, you must know and identify the exact individual that your sample comes from. Taking your eyes off the baboons for one moment results in uncertainty. Then we wait and wait until we hear drops falling on the ground from the branches overhead. At that moment, we run with our “butterfly net” poles extended in hopes to catch the golden droplets on plastic bags. We use syringes to transfer the gathered drops into small test tubes. Fecal samples are, mercifully, just collected off the ground once deposited. We place our labeled collections in our bags for processing later in the day.

The view from the top of the baboons' range on the mountain

This is Bonnie, she is distinguished by her curved tail

Once the entire baboon troop descends to the ground, we begin specific data collection. There are some precise behaviors or interactions that we record whenever they are seen throughout the day, such as human proximity, fence transgressions (if a baboon jumps over an electric fence), consortships, demographics, etc. We also collect focal follow and scan sample data. I’ve already learned how to distinguish each male and female in the group by their characteristic ears and tails; now I am learning how to administer focal follows on specific individuals. This means I get to spend my entire day following the outlandish baboon boys. The night before, we generate a randomized follow list that determines the order in 

Grooming is an important part of baboon society

which we conduct focal follows on each male. Sometimes, it takes quite a bit of active searching throughout the troop to find the correct male. They rarely seem to be in the right place at the right time. Once we have our male, we begin a focal follow. This means that we collect data based upon a set ethogram (a catalog of behaviors that must be recorded) for 15 minutes straight on that one baboon. We study and record his every movement, from self-scratches and yawns to grooming and mating behaviors. We record the minute and second every behavior happens as well as details about each behavior (like who is grooming who, who approaches who, etc.). We collect data on behavior, the environment, human-wildlife interactions, weather, and male-female consortships. In addition, we gather data on the nearest male and female baboon within 20 meters to our focal male every minute on the minute. If the baboon runs off down the road or jumps over streams or climbs over fences, we must follow him (I may or may not have fallen waist-deep in a river yesterday because of this). If he disappears from our view, we stop our stopwatches and have 15 minutes to find him again before we must discard our data completely and start over. 

The designated ethogram of behaviors I must record is three pages long, and each behavior has a two-letter abbreviation to maximize efficiency. It is a significant amount to remember all the details and all the individual baboons that interact with your focal. You never get bored, I suppose. In between our focal follows, we take scan sample of all the males. This requires that we actively find all the males that we can within a 10-minute time interval and record briefly what behaviors they are engaging in. It takes practically the entire day to do focal follows on all 7 males as well as scan sample data. Currently, Lucy and I are studying the same focal follows to ensure that we are gathering data in the same way, an important part of inter-observer reliability. Soon, I will be collecting focal follows entirely on my own.

New infant baboon born two days ago

We are allowed a short lunch break during our extensive day, although we must stagger our lunches so that one person is with the troop at all times. It can be difficult to re-locate the meandering baboons if you leave them alone for too long. Some days, we have found all our males down at the picnic grounds sneakily trying to snatch food from people braaiing (South African BBQing) while the rest of the troop is up foraging in the pastures. Typically, we eat our lunches at a little place called Lister’s Tea Room that sits right at the base of the mountain where all the trails fan out from the parking lot. It’s a good excuse to get some hot tea and warm up by the fire, as well.

One person is designated each day to go back early to the research house (where Ilana, Lucy, and the project manager Crista live) to process the samples collected. It takes 3-4 hours to completely process all our fecal samples, and the protocol involves enthralling details that I will refrain from publicizing. Let’s just say that we must wear masks and gloves and by the end, my clothes are infused with baboon poo-fragrance. Exciting business.

Elephant's Eye Mountain. 

We stay out late with the troop, right up until the sun vanishes behind Elephant’s Eye Mountain and the clouds emanate copper and gold hues. The baboons settle down towards the end of the day, and spend time grooming and playing with each other before heading up into their sleeping trees. 

Back at home, I make myself dinner in my microwave (mostly experimentation….) and sit down with a hot cup of Rooibos tea to enter data. Some times, I will go over to my roommates’ house for dinner or a braai or to the project house to watch a movie. Fortunately, I have found that I spend little time just sitting home alone. After a long day on my feet, I am usually exhausted and in bed by 10:00 PM. 

The view overlooking the Constantiaburg Hills

There has yet to be a boring and uneventful day in this country.