Your morning adorable: Baby baboon explores in Germany’s Hagenbeck Zoo
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Among the youngest residents of the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg, Germany, is this baby hamadryas baboon -- a species which, if we’re not very much mistaken, rather resembles a cross between Harry Potter sidekick Dobby the house elf and a gremlin. (Though that statement might sound pejorative, we assure you it’s meant as a compliment.)
In the wild, hamadryas baboons occupy the Horn of Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula, making them the species of baboon with the northernmost habitat range. Their range once included Egypt as well; in fact, ancient Egyptians revered hamadryas baboons because the species was associated with the deity Thoth.
The Hagenbeck Zoo is known for being the world’s first ‘barless zoo,’ building moats around the exhibits rather than using cages to house its animals. Its creator, Carl Hagenbeck Jr., even designed a special exhibit for hamadryas baboons -- a ‘monkey rock’ considered the first of its kind to be installed in any zoo in the world.
See more of the Hagenbeck Zoo’s hamadryas monkey family after the jump!
RELATED STORIES ABOUT MEMBERS OF THE OLD WORLD MONKEY FAMILY:
Baboons: The wine connoisseurs of the animal kingdom
Baby mandrill born at Rome’s Bioparco Zoo
-- Lindsay Barnett