A Comparative Study of the Daily Activity Patterns of Dog Faced Baboon (Papio anubis) in Captivity at the Kano University Zoo and Kano Zoological Garden

Aim: This study seeks to observed the daily activity patterns of dog faced baboon (Papio anubis) in Kano University of Science and Technology Wudil Zoo and Kano Zoological Garden.

Materials and Methods: The study was carried out daily between 6:00am to 6:00pm from December 2016 to January 2017. Digital camera was also attached to cages at the two sites. The observation in the activity patterns were recorded on recording sheet, observation is done three times a week at 20 minutes intervals.

Results: The findings on activity pattern of dog faced baboon (Papio anubis) in captivity shows that the day time activities decrease from morning to evening. Resting activities was 47.5%, movement and feeding were carried out in the morning, followed by afternoon and evening with 33.3% and 19.1% activities respectively. The results from the Kano Zoological Garden, indicated that 42.7% of the activities perform by dog faced baboon in captivity are resting, this is followed by movement which accounted for 34.9% of the activities, while feeding activities account for the least with 22.4%. Similarly, about 43.2% of the recorded activities carried out by dog faced baboon in Kano University of Science and Technology Wudil, Zoo was resting, followed by movement which constituted 34.8% of the activities and feeding activity which accounted for 22%.

Conclusion: Due to the fact that majority of the baboons activities usually take place between morning and afternoon, it is recommended that visitors interested in baboons should plan their visitation to the Zoo pen during that time. It is also recommended that feeding and harassing of animals by the visitors should be discouraged in order to ensure consistency in their behaviour.