Habitat Use and the Demographics of Object Manipulation by Wild Chacma Baboons

Studying object manipulation may offer insights about the emergence of habitual tool use in the hominin clade. Previous research on object manipulation has focused on habitual tool-using animals such as apes, capuchins, dolphins, and corvids. Investigating object manipulation in wild baboons, a highly social, ecologically adaptable, and terrestrial primate that is not a habitual tool user, can shed further light on the pressures favoring or inhibiting the use of technology. In this study, we investigate factors that influence object manipulation in the chacma baboons of Gorongosa National Park, across demographic and environmental conditions.

We collected data using focal and scan sampling, with the aid of the Animal Observer app, and recorded object use and other behaviors. We followed three focal troops: Chitengo, Montebelo, and Floodplain. A total of 2262 observations were recorded across 88 individuals (787 events involved object use).

Mixed-effects logistic regressions revealed that habitat, age, and substrate use significantly predicted object use among baboons. Object use was most likely in open forests. Adults are less likely to engage in object manipulation, and this behavior decreases with age, which is in line with previous results reported for bonobos. Interestingly, baboons spend more time manipulating objects arboreally than terrestrially.

Our findings contribute to the current discussions about the contexts that promote tool use across the primate order. Further studies expanding on these results and assessing differential availability of resources can provide a more comprehensive understanding of the evolution of tool use.