This family of baboons really wanted to cross the river without getting wet, so they ran and jumped in the funniest of ways to try and stay dry.
Roger Müller, a Chief Procurement Officer Working in the tourism industry had this cute and funny sighting all to himself. He shared his story and images with LatestSightings.com.
“It was early in the morning, and I had left Bateleur Bushveld Camp and headed in the direction of Shingwedzi. A habit of mine is to always stop at the river crossings to see what I can spot. On this morning, it was a massive troop of at least 60 baboons. They were foraging on the river’s edge and grooming one another on the bridge. At first, it looked as though they would not be up to much until one of them near the edge looked like it wanted to cross.”
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Stopping at river crossings like the one on the S52 is always a good idea. It offers a unique view of the river and a chance to see animals coming for a drink. It’s also the perfect spot for animals to cross easily from one side to the other, so they really like using it. Especially for big cats that don’t like getting their paws wet, it’s a lot easier to cross a bridge than a muddy riverbed.
After some rainy days in the park, the river got stronger and even started flowing over the low-water bridge. So, crossing it became trickier for the baboons, and they weren’t too pleased about it!
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Now baboons don’t particularly hate getting wet. On hot days they’ve been known to jump into puddles of water and even take swims in the camp pools of the park! But baboons sure do hate crocodiles, and this river is filled with them. So, the baboons were extremely cautious and hesitant to cross this river.
“The first baboon to come to the water edge thought about his plan: was he going to run or jump? He decided that maybe speed would be his best bet. So, with a short run-up, he got onto two legs as he hit the water and ran as fast as he could! This gave courage to the rest of the troop. Some ran and jumped as much as they could to minimize the amount of time they spent in the water.”
“This continued for 20 minutes as one by one they decided to cross the river in the most entertaining way. But even though so many of them had made the cross, some of the baboons were still not convinced. They decided that they would much rather stay dry and out of danger on the side of the river they were on.”
