• Question: When baboons groom each other does it means anything other than keeping clean?

    Asked by anna1999 to Charlotte, Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 13 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Kevin Mahon

      Kevin Mahon answered on 13 Jun 2012:


      Yes, it is a very important social behaviour!

      It is a means by which animals who live in proximity may form bond , forming new relationships, strengthening family relationships and help enforce the groups overall social structure.

      In some species, grooming such as this can be used to settle conflicts or allow two individuals to reconcile.

      In other animals, like some macaques, males that have groomed a female have a greater chance of mating with them than a male who has not!

    • Photo: Louise de Raad

      Louise de Raad answered on 14 Jun 2012:


      As kevin explains very well it does. It is also a stress reliever, and you’ll see that after there has been a big fight everybody is grooming each other in order to calm down again.

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