Baboon 8
I just love watching these animals interact. Here we have four of the 22 Hamadryas Baboons currently living at the zoo in Asheboro, NC, USA. Tankara is on the right. Her daughter Tinka is standing up and being very very curious about that foot the other baboon is working on grooming. I will find out for sure who that is and update this area later. I am pretty sure the juvenile male you see holding Tinka's leg is Wiley. They play together a lot!
Karamela seems to be teething! She's picked up the stick and has been toying around with it for a little while now, most of the time keeping one end or another of it, in her mouth. Behind Karamela's scrawny little body, we see her mother Candy.
Tinka Baboon, safe in the arms of her mother Tankara. Hamadryas Baboons, native to parts of Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia are very much at home on the rocks.
Karamela Baboon, born May 11, 2014 to mother Candy. She's one of three babies born this spring. Candy seems to be a particularly protective mother, and when you see Karamela, Candy is always right there as well, at least for the time being. Photo taken at the North Carolina Zoo on July 23.
Rhea Baboon of the North Carolina Zoo
Rhea is such a beauty. She sits regally by as her little one, not visible here, plays nearby. His name is Zanzibar and I will be adding photos of him as I can. Notice the skin tag under that left eye. When Zanzibar is not nursing or cuddling with his mother, this is how we know it's she!
Karamela Crouching in the Grass
Karamela Baboon holds her gentle fingers to her mouth. Dainty and very much a little girl!
Tullu is four years old in this shot, taken at North Carolina Zoo on July 23, 2014. Though often trailed by his little friend Babu, on this day he was sitting alone playing with this stick for the longest time, first examining it, then putting it in his mouth, then bending it. In this shot, he's got each end with one of his furry hands, and is bending that stick around his foot, after having threaded it between his toes.
Baby Baboon, born May 11, 2014 at North Carolina Zoo. Photographed July 23, 2014
The hands of these little baboons are so adorable. When the Hamadryas Baboon is born, it has black hair, which fades to a light brown as they it grows. Apparently the finger nails are quite dark as well, as you can see here.
Candy tends to hold on to Karamela's tail, never letting her daughter get too far away. She also tends to hang out close to Addis, who is most likely the father of Karamela.