Although the baboons at the Eden office have always been beloved pets, they serve a purpose as they know intuitively what is edible and what isn’t. With so many unknown species in the Sahel, the baboons give us a good inclination on whether or not a species (or a particular part of a plant) is edible or not. Baboons are suspicious by nature and have an intuitive feel on what is edible and what isn’t. When they discard something, there’s no use trying it yourself, but if they appreciate it however, that particular species is well worth further investigation.
Rez (our twenty year old baboon male) knew well before he tasted it for the first time that cocoa nuts were full of something delicious; that sugar canes were for eating and that inside the olive fruit he would find a very nice grain - the list goes on. But even in wild life, every flock has its hierarchy, and when something new is introduced, the more skeptical members will wait for the patriarch to try new things first.
In the case of these Eden nuts, they may be new to the young ones, but they are old favourites’ of Rez!
…and he was not sharing!
Although Rez has many bad sides to his personality (a general case of megalomania combined with a few aggression issues, grumpiness, bouts of bad temper etc) and has been the cause of Sheba’s recent distress, he can still be as cute as can be when he has your full attention and there is no one to threaten the flock (or worse, the food!).
I often describe him as a two Dobermans caught in the body of a four-handed creature. Although he’s as greedy as a monkey can be, he is no worse than your average rich human and do have his tender moments (as when he is carefully licking Eden nuts off my hand, to ensure me that he has no intentions of biting me).
And in case you did not know already, I have a very soft spot for this twenty year old rascal, even though he is the cause of 90 percent of my scars… But scars are the same as wrinkles only earned in the early stages of life: they tell part of your life story, and mine begun in Africa more than twenty years ago. Together with Rez.
3 users commented in " Rez the Baboon & Eden nuts "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackBeautiful Post - Rez does look a bit of a rascal though…!
It’s known as having to take the rough with the smooth, I guess…
Fascinating insight into what you’re doing and how - thanks for sharing…
I only I had more free time to follow your posts more reguarly..:)
How fascinating about seeing what a baboon will eat! I had no idea that was why you kept them. I see Sheba is keeping her distance….good girl!
I finally got around to posting about MY Sheba. Even though Rez has eyes close set (similar to mine) 
I find it hard to think of him as being attractive or cute! 
@India: Thanks! Rez is a rascal, always was, from the first time we met him… Then he was just a little baboon baby, but lol, twenty years later, he’s a force to be reckoned with.
@Tammy: Baboons eat just about everything except for certain processed foods. Ours hates everything that has to do with eggs and milk. They love meat though although their offered diet is vegetarian, they will manage to catch a dove or a crow from time to time. I’ll agree with you that even by baboon standards, Rez is not really attractive, but one who was was his mate Wendy, whom we lost in 2006. Now that a BEAUTIFUL baboon female, with the mildest of tempers and an understanding for humans that I have never encountered in an animal before. Although Rez is a next-to evil version of Wendy, he can be incredibly empathetic (although don’t even try to reason with him when he’s building up a temper).
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