Food Selectivity by Papio Cynocephalus in the Conditions of Wrocław Zoo

Abstract

The aim-of this work was to depict food selectivity. Of the artificially created yellow baboon troop (Papio cynocephalus) and to compare the result obtained from the observation of this troop with the data taken from the literature concerning the kind of food consumed by the animals in their natural environment.

It is possible to distinguish five groups of food in the diet of the yellow baboons: diary products, fruit, vegetables, com-products and, meat. Among diary products, the animals prefer eggs and cottage cheese; among fruit: nuts, cherries and apples. The most attractive among vegetables are maize com, sunflower corn, tomatoes, leeks, carrots, cucumbers and lettuce. Porridge is favoured much more than other corn products. High frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption by the troop under observation confirmes the vegetable character of the diet of baboons which live in the natural environment.

The low consumption of meat niay result from the fact that the diary products, the baboons eat, satisfy their demand for animal protein which is available for the baboons in the natural environment by means of killing and eating other animals.