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<\/a>Despite their black and white coats, these striking monkeys can be difficult to see in the forest canopy as they try to remain out of sight. They are agile tree dwellers which can on occasions be seen leaping great distances between trees.<\/p>\n Colobus monkeys live in territorial groups of about nine individuals, comprising a single male with a number of females and their offspring.<\/p>\n Newborn Colobuses are completely white with black rings around their eyes.<\/p>\n Colobus monkeys are herbivorous, eating leaves, fruit, bark and flowers. They frequent forests, varying from riverine forests to wooded grasslands. Along the Grumeti river are dense verdant riverine forests.<\/p>\n Outside the Serengeti, the biggest threat to the Colobus is habitat loss, where human encroachment and logging are destroying forests. These primate face hunting for bush meat and for their striking coats.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you realise the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.\u201d~Dian Fossey<\/p>\n Olive baboons also live along the Grumeti river but forage on the ground. They also venture onto the plains looking for food. Olive baboons are so named because of the colour of their coats. In every troop there seems to be one, if not two bosses, large males which are the troop\u2019s guardians and disciplinarians.<\/p>\n The males are larger than the females and have a mane of longer hair on the side of their faces and along their necks.<\/p>\n Olive baboons are found throughout equatorial Africa and in a number of different habitats. The Olive baboons we came across were savanna-dwelling, foraging in the wide plains of the grasslands and sleeping in open woodlands close to water.<\/p>\n The next image shows the troop making its way back to the river where its members climbed up into the trees to rest for the night.<\/p>\n I never counted them, but this troop of Olive baboons must have been at least 100 strong.<\/p>\n It was quite a walk to and from their foraging areas. In the late afternoon, the troop stopped for a rest next around this balanite on its way back to the \u201csleeping trees\u201d next to the river.<\/p>\n We watched the antics of many of the baboons which used the opportunity to get rest while the youngsters played in and around the tree.<\/p>\n \u201cFor those who have experienced the joy of being alone with nature there is really little need for me to say much more; for those who have not, no words of mine can ever describe the powerful, almost mystical knowledge of beauty and eternity that come, suddenly, and all unexpected.\u201d~Jane Goodall<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I could not get over how casually this mother allowed her youngster to pull her nipple while suckling.<\/p>\n Any mother who has breast fed would probably be cringing at the sight of this youngster excessively pulling at its mother\u2019s nipple.<\/p>\n \u201cOne\u2019s destination is never a place, but always a new way of seeing things.\u201d<\/p>\n ~Henry Miller<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In a troop but forlorn and alone. This one branch of the Balanite became quite a focal point for all sorts of activities.<\/p>\n \u201cLovers in the air\u201d- as you know balance is everything!!!<\/p>\n After the lovers had disappeared back into the troop, the branch became a plaything for the youngsters, with a little dominance going on!!<\/p>\n Another branch on the other side of the tree was this youngster\u2019s gym bar.<\/p>\n It is amusing to see how human-like these baboons were and despite their antics, they very rarely fall out of the tree. Injury means death!<\/p>\n \u201cI think that intelligence is such a narrow branch of the tree of life \u2013 this branch of primates we call humans. No other animal, by our definition, can be considered intelligent. So intelligence can\u2019t be all that important for survival, because there are so many animals that don\u2019t have what we call intelligence, and they\u2019re surviving just fine.\u201d~Neil deGrasse Tyson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The \u201cbaboon\u2019s bedroom\u201d. Come twilight it was time to get off the ground and into a place out of most predators\u2019 way. That assumes a leopard will not come visiting in the quietest and darkest time of night.<\/p>\n The wind was blowing quite hard but this youngster was well protected by its mother.<\/p>\n A strident male Olive baboon who exuded confidence and was not about to take nonsense from anyone or anything! Females stay with their groups their entire lives, but males are in eternal competition with each other and if their ranking is downgraded they may emigrate to another troop.<\/p>\n