Verreaux's eagles (Aquila verreauxi) as potential predators of hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas) in Eritrea

In this paper we describe for the first time encounters of Verreaux's eagle (Aquila verreauxi) with hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas hamadryas) in the central highlands of Eritrea (15° 22′ N, 38° 58′ E, 2300 m). During 12 h of observation on 4 days, we observed four encounters of Verreaux's eagles with baboons, of which three can be classified as possible attacks. The baboons always responded with alarm calls. In three cases some immatures rushed to adult group members and clung to them, particularly to the adult male. Adult males threatened the eagle, and the whole group did not flee. The response of baboons towards smaller raptors like tawny eagles (Aquila rapax) and black kites (Milvus migrans) was very different. The adult baboons gave no alarm barks but scanned the raptors. The permanent presence of a pair of Verreaux's eagles in the home range of the baboons may represent a considerable predation pressure, at least for immature baboons. Am. J. Primatol. 47:61–66, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.