Mystery over bizarre behaviour of baboons at Dutch zoo who have been turning their backs on visitors

Baboons at Emmen Dierenpark have behaved this way four times in 20 years
Animals have stopped eating and have been sitting frozen on the ground
Baffled zoologists have failed to find an explanation for bizarre behaviour

By KERRY MCDERMOTT

Mystery: Everything from an unseen predator to a natural disaster has been put forward as a possible explanation for the strange behaviour of the baboons

The bizarre behaviour of a troop of 'hysterical' baboons at a Dutch zoo has been blamed on everything from an earthquake to a UFO.
Ordinarily seen scampering around on their island at the Emmen Dierenpark in the northern Netherlands, the gang of 112 monkeys have been sitting frozen on the ground and turning their backs on visitors this week.
The baboons have even lost their appetites, say baffled zoologists at the park, who have heard various theories as to what may be behind the animals' strange behaviour.

'Hysterical': The baboons at the zoo in the Netherlands have been turning their backs to visitors this week

'They became panicked at the end of the day on Monday, they were hysterical, not jumping around but behaving strangely,' zoologist Wijbren Landman told AFP.
'On Tuesday and Wednesday they just sat in the trees or on the ground, hardly moving or eating.'
Mr Landman described various theories put forward to explain the bizarre scenes at the zoo, with some suggesting the baboons may have spotted a predator - either a real one or an image of one on a visitor's t-shirt - or felt the rumblings of an earthquake.

Baffled: Zoologists told Dutch news outlets they have failed to hit on an explanation for the animals' strange behaviour

The zoologist admitted he was yet to hear an explanation that 'holds water'.
'The craziest suggestion was that it was caused by a UFO,' Mr Landman said.
Baboons at the zoo, who were all born in captivity, have behaved this way four times in the past 20 years, the team at Emmen Dierenpark said.

Theories: The baboons at the zoo have been sitting motionless in trees or on the ground at the zoo

Traumatised: The team at the zoo consulted outside experts, but they have so far failed to shed any light on the mystery

source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2384032/Baboons-Dutch-zoo-sitting-backs-turned-visitors.html
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Horrific blaze kills conservationist and three baboons at South African animal rescue centre

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Rita Miljo was renowned for helping to reintroduced packs of baboons into the wilds of South Africa

An horrific blaze has destroyed a baboon rescue centre killing a renowned conservationist as well as three animals.
Rita Miljo, who reintroduced packs of baboons into the wilds of South Africa, died in the fire which destroyed much of the headquarters of the sanctuary she built, an official said.
Karl Pierce, a director with the sanctuary said the 81-year-old died in the small apartment she kept above the clinic of the Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education in the bush of Limpopo province.
Also killed in the fire were three baboons including Bobby, the first chacma baboon she rescued and nursed back to health in 1980 after spiriting her away from a national park without a permit, Mr Pierce said.

Tragic: The fire at the animal rescue centre killed conservationist Rita Miljo as well as three baboons

The fire broke out around 8pm yesterday after volunteers and workers left the centre for the evening, he added.
No one else was injured in the blaze, which consumed the clinic, offices and a house on the property, about 250 miles north east of Johannesburg. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
While Ms Miljo no longer ran day-to-day operations of the centre, which cares for more than 400 baboons, she remained a constant presence and a figurehead for the organisation she founded in 1989.
'Everybody's still in shock about this,' Mr Pierce said.

Rita Miljo nursed orphaned and injured baboons back to health, then pioneered ways of reintroducing whole troops of cared-for baboons back into the wild

Born in Germany in 1931, Ms Miljo arrived in South Africa in the 1950s. In a 2008 article about her in the Washington Post Magazine, she said helping baboons taught her 'why people behave the way they do'.
'Chimpanzees can be deceitful, just like humans, whereas baboons haven't learned that yet,' she said. 'So what you learn from the baboons is the truth about yourself.

source: dailymail

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Adorable baby baboon abandoned by mother after injuring her tail is adopted by zoo keeper

By ANTHONY BOND

New home: A baby baboon with an injured tail which was abandoned by her mother three days after birth has been adopted by a zoo keeper

It's fair to say that this adorable baby baboon didn't get off to the best start in life.
The tot managed to injure her tail and was swiftly abandoned by her mother - just three days after her birth.
Thankfully, however, it wasn't long before the lovable youngster found a new home.
The baby, who is now one-month-old, was born at Wuhan Zoo in China and will be cared for by female keeper Wang Yuping until she is 12 months old.
'This is the first time we let a family adopt a primate baby,' said Li Kangbin, director of the zoo's animal management department.
'We could choose to raise it at the zoo, but after careful consideration we decided it would feel very lonely and it won't be good for its mental health.'
According to Mrs Yuping, raising the baby baboon is ten times harder than raising a human baby.

Happy ending: The youngster, who is now one-month-old, was born at Wuhan Zoo in China and will be cared for by female keeper Wang Yuping until she is 12 months old

Kind: Zoo keeper Wang Yuping is pictured with the baby baboon which she has adopted

To make sure the baboon has a comfortable bed, the couple bought a dog house and cushioned it with a jacket.
'At night we also prepare her a hot bottle,' said Mrs Yuping.
The young baboon wakes up every hour during the night and cries for food meaning Mrs Yuping must care for her 24/7.


Tough: Wang Yuping says raising the baby baboon is ten times harder than raising a human baby

source: dailymail

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What an odd couple! Meet Gakii the three-month-old orphaned bushbaby who has been adopted by a baboon

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Perfect pair: The baboon has been caring for orphan Gakii after meeting at the orphanage in Nairobi


Clinging to the under-belly of a baboon, Gakii, a 3-month-old orphaned bush baby has plumped for an unlikely surrogate-mother.

In the grounds of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage, the duo cavort around in each other’s arms, drink milk out of the same bowl and poke mischievously at the camera.

Defying nature, the seven-month-old yellow baboon rescued in Maralal in northern Kenya has quickly adopted the bushbaby rescued in Nyeri in central Kenya after meeting at the orphanage.


Feeding time: The unusual pair enjoy eating together at the Kenyan animal sanctuary


The baboon gives Gakii protection and affection as if it was her own offspring.

‘This is not normal. It has not happened here and I guess it has not happened anywhere else,’ said Edward Kariuki, a warden at the animal home in the Kenyan capital.

Yellow baboons inhabit savannas and light forests in eastern Africa.


Play mates: The duo cavort around in each other's arms and drink milk together


Carry me: The baboon acts like a mother to the three-month-old bushbaby


While bushbabies, or galagos as they are also known, are small nocturnal primates native to continental Africa.

Kenya, however, has a history of unlikely cases of fostering among orphaned animals.

In 2004, a giant tortoise adopted and became an inseparable friend to a baby hippo washed out to sea off the coast of Kenya in the aftermath of the southeast Asia Tsunami. The pair became an Internet sensation.

Two years earlier, a full-grown lioness baffled experts in the east African country when she adopted a baby oryx - a kind of antelope normally deemed a tasty morsel by the predators


'This is not normal': Edward Kariuki, a warden at the animal home in the Kenyan capital, said this is unusual


Hide and seek: The pair hang out in the grass at the Kenyan animal sanctuary


Friends: The six-month-old female yellow baboon abandoned by its family in Maralal in northen Kenya, is taking care of the three-month-old bush baby, that was also abandoned by its family in central Kenya


source: dailymail

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A baboon mother holds her baby

Baboons enjoy the sun in their enclosure at the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg March 4, 2011.




Baboons enjoy the sun in their enclosure at the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg March 4, 2011.


A baboon mother holds her baby in their enclosure at the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg March 4, 2011.



A baboon mother feeds her baby in their enclosure at the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg March 4, 2011.


source: Daylife
photo: Reuters

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Caught in the act: The baboon bag-snatcher seen craftily raiding British tourists' car

By Mail Foreign Service

Sneaky monkey: The cunning male baboon Fred clutches Hazel Murray's handbag at Miler's Point, South Africa

Here's one cheeky monkey in definite need of an Asbo (that’s an Anti-Social Baboon Order).

This cunning adult male, known as Fred, strolled up to a car, opened the door and hopped in the back before making off with a handbag - to the shock of the British tourists inside.


Light fingered: Fred opens the rear door of the tourists' car...


The bag belongs to Hazel Murray, 71, who was on holiday with her brother George Cox and his wife Jacqueline in South Africa.

They were visiting Miller’s Point, near Cape Town, when Fred - who has become so used to humans that he has learned how to get into their vehicles in search of food - swung into action


and pilfers Mrs Murray's bag and looks round while she and her brother George stand either side of the car


Disappointment: After his daring theft, Fred learns the bag contains no food and allows the Millers to retrieve it


‘I looked in the rear view mirror and this huge baboon was sitting on the back seat next to my sister,’ said Mr Cox, 60, from Bridport, Dorset. ‘It was massive and its teeth were huge.’

Luckily for Mrs Murray, she was reunited with her bag after Fred inspected the contents and then discarded it after deciding there was nothing worth eating.


source: dailymail

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Baby Baboon, Royev Ruchey Zoo

Kira, a 5-day-old baboon, gestures as it is fed by an employee of the Royev Ruchey Zoo in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk November 5, 2009. Kira's mother refused to feed her cub and now it will be bottle fed.


Kira, a 5-day-old baboon baby, is fed by an employee of the Royev Ruchey Zoo in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk November 5, 2009. Kira's mother refused to feed her cub and now it will be bottle fed.



Kira, a 5-day-old baboon, is fed by an employee of the Royev Ruchey Zoo in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk November 5, 2009. Kira's mother refused to feed her cub and now it will be bottle fed.


credit photo: Reuters

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