By Hassani Rashid - Tracker, Greystoke MahaleIn Mahale Mountain National Park, there are eight other species of primates apart from Chimpanzees.
On 14th of August 2009 I was in the forest tracking chimpanzees, when I came across a vervet monkey with her tiny baby up on a guava tree eating fruits. While standing there watching, I saw a male yellow baboon come toward that tree where the vervet was. As he got closer to about 4 metres from that tree the vervet was the vervet started acting defensive, by bristling her hair, giving alarm calls while at the same time coming to lower branches as if is coming to attack the baboon. The yellow baboon couldn’t be stopped by that aggression and continued to walk toward that tree. As he got to the tree, the vervet kept on screaming but louder than before and other vervets who were up on trees nearby rush in for help. The baboon seeing more and more vervet coming from almost all trees around, decided to flee away.
Unfortunately many vervets were already nearby and started to attack the baboon as he struggles to get away. That left me puzzled, as whether the yellow baboon was after the vervet’s baby or guava fruits. When yellow baboons get an opportunity they can hunt and eat other small primates including Vervet monkey.
