Population status of the Hamadryas baboon in and around Simien Mountains National Park (SMNP), Ethiopia

ABSTRACT This baseline study was conducted in and around Simien Mountains National Park (SMNP), Ethiopia, with the objective of investigating the population status of the Hamadryas baboon. While Hamadryas baboon populations have been extensively studied in Africa, no such study has been carried out in this extreme southwest area of their range. Within the SMNP, the Hamadryas baboon is primarily found in the southwestern, northern and eastern parts of the park. The total population was estimated using the total count method at three counting sites. Within those three sites ~495 individual Hamadryas baboons were found. The population comprised ~190 adults, 150 sub-adults, 133 juveniles, and 22 infants of indeterminate age. The study was completed in both the dry and the wet season and showed no significant change in the population or population dynamics seasonally, suggesting that the members of this resident population are the primary occupants of these locations. The age and gender diversity results indicated that there were approximately 72 adult males and 117 adult females, together with 63 sub-adult males and 87 sub-adult females, 54 male and 80 female juveniles, and 22 infants during the wet season. The Hamadryas baboon’s overall sex ratio was 1:1.65 males to females for adults, 1:1.36 for sub-adults and 1:1.46 for juveniles. This study can serve as a benchmark for tracking the population status over time and rank their conservation status in this extreme southwestern range for this species.