A smart baboon -- Ozzie (1974-1991), Amboseli National Park, Kenya, East Africa

Individual distinctiveness is an element of organic diversity. Curious, inventive individuals are of interest in the study of phenotypic variation and its ecological consequences. This brief biographical sketch highlights one such individual, Ozzie, a yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) of Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Researchers from the Amboseli Baboon Research Project observed Ozzie across his lifespan. The first two years of Ozzie's life and of his year-class of baboons in Altoʼs Group were both near-drought years. Demonstrably as yearlings and perhaps also as infants, Ozzie and his peers were nutritionally stressed. Of six primary factors known to influence overall baboon survival in Amboseli, Ozzie was at risk for four and very nearly at risk for a fifth. Ozzie, the most playful member of his year-class, consumed an exceptional variety of food items, investigated inanimate objects, including auto tailpipes and fire, and was known for his curiosity. In most respects, Ozzie's adult life appears to have resembled that of most other Amboseli baboon males. His resilience in the face of multiple risk factors for overall survival is noteworthy, however. He survived to age 16 years, an unusually long lifespan for an adult male Amboseli baboon.