Hamadryas Baboon (Papio hamadryas) Fact Sheet: Managed Care

Historical Records

• North America
  • 1901: earliest record of Hamadryas Baboon in an American Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) facility
    •  A single male housed at the Washington Park Zoological Society

History at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

• Herman Ruhe brought two Hamadryas Baboons to the San Diego Zoo in 1922
  • A male, named Wahoo, and a female, unnamed
  • Wahoo fathered two babies at the the San Diego Zoo
    • The first on June 28, 1931; followed by a sibling on February 7, 1932
• Between 1931 and 1978, 27 babies born
  • One, named Old Lady, lived for 45 years
    • Mother to 10 babies
• 2017: Hamadryas Baboons join the San Diego Zoo's exhibit, Africa Rocks!
  • Prior to this, the San Diego Zoo last housed Hamadrays Baboons in 1981

Hamadryas baboons instantly became a "guest favorite" when Africa Rocks! opened at the San Diego Zoo in 2017.

© San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

Wiley (2012)