University of Wisconsin–Madison

Community outreach by NVBP: A monthly Baboon Bulletin expands residents’ understanding of baboon activities

Since March 2025, Nature’s Valley Baboon Project has been providing the Nature’s Valley, South Africa, residents with a monthly “Baboon Bulletin” via the NGO NVT‘s social media. This requested community-facing report includes monthly information on (1) where our research team saw the baboons outside of residential areas, providing residents with a more complete picture of baboon ranging in natural spaces, (2) top foods we observed the baboons eating, giving residents a broader picture of what the baboons eat beyond seeking human foods in residential areas, and (3) from a WhatsApp community chat, how often the baboons were seen in the village, how many attempted home entries and successful home entries occurred, providing residents with monthly descriptive statistics of fluctuations in human-baboon coexistence challenges in Nature’s Valley. Below is the June 2026 Baboon Bulletin, with much to report, including extreme weather and leopard predation pressure! From the diet side, in June, we observed the baboons eating pollen from male pine cones in addition to the seeds of female pine cones while ranging in local pine plantations.

Monthly report on baboon activity including map of baboon ranging, list of foods, and summary statistics of activity in the village.