Monkey business Emmen baboons

11april2007
Source: Emmen zoo
It’s extremely quiet on the baboon island of Emmen zoo. The monkeys, which are normally busy and noisy, are sitting close together in a quiet corner of the rocks.
They often stare at the Africa savannah, as if danger lurks from that corner. And the danger has to be big, because the monkeys will not leave the rocks, not even for delicious snacks. There is no playing, no fighting, only a lot of fleeing, as if the monkeys look for support among themselves. Suddenly, one of the males rises, walks to the top of the rock and stares at the savannah. It’s especially males that follow him. They all stare into the same direction, until they suddenly run back to the safe corner of the rock, whilst making a lot of noise.

In 1994 and 1997 the baboons showed the same signs of mass hysteria, when they all climbed in the trees and did not leave them for four days. The reason for this has always remained a mystery. All these years, they remained outside day and night. This has now changed. Last night, the monkeys visited their night resort, but they only used a small amount of the space. As the zookeepers do not know the cause of the fear, all they can do is hope that the hysteria will again disappear after four days.