Tsaobis Baboons Project

The Tsaobis Baboon Project is a long-term study (>20 years) of a population of chacma baboons in Namibia, on the bangs of the Namib Desert. Our work is carried out in affiliation with the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute. The aim of the Tsaobis Baboon Project is to conduct fundamental research in behavioral and population ecology, using desert baboons as a model system. Our work also has a conservation perspective, focusing on human-baboon conflict, and the effects of complex social structure on population dynamics and extinction. We are currently working with three troops of chacma baboons (Papio ursinus), totalling over 160 individuals. Each baboon is individually recognizable, its age is known and its relationship to other individuals in the population is known.