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Chacma Baboon
Papio ursinus
Silhouette: Owen Jones · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassMammalia (Mammals)
- OrderPrimates
- FamilyCercopithecidae (Old World Monkeys)
- GenusPapio (Baboons)
- SpeciesPapio ursinus (Chacma Baboon)
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
47 Verified sightings at Namib-Naukluft National Park From 2019 to 2026
3,029 In all 19 parks
June Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted
About the Chacma Baboon
The chacma baboon (Papio ursinus), also known as the Cape baboon, is, like all other baboons, from the Old World monkey family. It is one of the largest of all monkeys. Located primarily in southern Africa, the chacma baboon has a wide variety of social behaviours, including a dominance hierarchy, collective foraging, adoption of young by females, and friendship pairings. These behaviors form parts of a complex evolutionary ecology. In general, the species is not threatened, but human population pressure has increased contact between humans and baboons. Hunting, trapping, and accidents kill or remove many baboons from the wild, thereby reducing baboon numbers and disrupting their social structure.
Due to hybridization between different baboon (Papio) populations across Africa, authors have occasionally grouped the entire radiation as a single species, the hamadryas baboon, Papio hamadryas. Arbitrary boundaries were then used to separate the populations into subspecies. Other authors once considered the chacma baboon a subspecies of the yellow baboon, Papio cynocephalus, although it is now recognised as a separate species, Papio ursinus. The chacma baboon has two or three... Wikipedia →
Sounds
Call1:07
Botswana · 2023
© Marc Anderson · XC959793 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Recording0:47
Namibia · 2023
© ahartwig001 · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:31
Namibia · 2024
© silviagu · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recent sightings of Chacma Baboon in Namib-Naukluft National Park
LIVEiNaturalistGlobal Distribution
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 2 | Lower Zambezi National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 3 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 5 | Golden Gate Highlands National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Hwange National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 9 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 10 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 11 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 12 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 13 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 14 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 15 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 16 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 17 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 18 | Namib-Naukluft National Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 19 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Cities Where Found
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Zoos & Centres Where Found
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZOOM Erlebniswelt | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Safari Masai Mara | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Birds of Eden | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Limassol Zoo | 🇨🇾 Cyprus |
Closest Relatives at Namib-Naukluft National Park
No species of the same family or order lives in Namib-Naukluft National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Before you go
What are the chances of seeing a Chacma Baboon in Namib-Naukluft National Park?
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Chacma Baboon sighting in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, based on 47 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 26 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
When is the best time to see a Chacma Baboon in Namib-Naukluft National Park?
June and December
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Chacma Baboon in Namib-Naukluft National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August, the lowest month.
What time of day is best to see a Chacma Baboon?
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chacma Baboon sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Is Namib-Naukluft National Park the best place to see a Chacma Baboon?
18th of 19
Of the 19 parks where we can rate Chacma Baboon sightings, Namib-Naukluft National Park ranks 18th at about 20%. The best odds are in Waterberg Plateau Park (Namibia, about 80%), Lower Zambezi National Park (Zambia, about 60%) and De Hoop Nature Reserve (South Africa, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Where does the Chacma Baboon sighting chance come from?
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chacma Baboon is recorded against all the mammals logged in Namib-Naukluft National Park (47 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
