There are signs at the entrance to the Monkey Jungle warning visitors not to feed the monkeys and to keep car doors locked and windows closed, and it is very important that you do this. Baboons are intelligent animals who will climb into cars if encouraged, and could cause damage or injury once inside. Visitors who do not wish to take their cars into the Monkey Jungle can now take advantage of our new 'Car Friendly' viewing route around the outside of the enclosure. We now have over 100 baboons in our troop, all of them born at Knowsley. There are many different species of baboon, and here we have Olive baboons. They belong to the Old World order of monkeys and are very intelligent, leading a highly regulated social life. As in most social groups of animals, it is the males' role to defend and protect the troop when danger threatens. Although there may be many adult males within the troop, they will all have an established pecking order amongst themselves, with the strongest and most vigorous male taking the role of leader. If a subordinate male shows any disrespect to his senior, minor quarrels may flare up, with the leader sometimes being called upon to settle the issue. Baboons are black when they are born and gradually turn brown by the time they are six months old. At first the young baboon clings tightly to its mother's breast and is fairly immobile, then after a few months it will travel around on its mother's back, until becoming fully mobile when about one year old. Once young males leave their mother they start at the bottom of the social hierarchy, working their way up as they grow. Baboons in the wild are omnivorous - able to eat both plants and animals - and at Knowsley their daily diet of all varieties of fruit and vegetables is occasionally supplemented with meat. The baboons also eat leaves and grass in the summer and spend many hours looking for worms and insects, especially when the ground is soft. Our baboons will often prey on wild rabbit and pheasant which stray into their area as an added extra. In the wild, baboons are sometimes prey to big carnivores such as lion and leopard. Baboons have powerful canine teeth and can be fierce, and the threat of several of them combining together to attack is enough to keep most predators away. They can also retreat up trees for protection, and they will usually spend the night in the branches. Our baboons sleep in the trees during the summer and only use their house during the cold winter months.

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