What emotions do baboons have?

All social mammals, including humans, exhibit six universal emotions: fear, disgust, anger, sadness, joy, and surprise, with varying degrees of nuance and complexity. Some baboon emotions suggest depth and complexity which goes beyond simple, in-the-moment reactions.

Fear is easy to discern in baboons, through their display of fear grimaces, vocalisations and flight from danger. It can become internalised, and manifest in anxiety or avoidant behaviours, like avoiding eye contact or making nervous gestures when near a dominant individual. 

Baboons display simple disgust behaviours, like sniffing and rejecting rotten foods.

The emotion of anger is displayed clearly in competition for food, dominance or mating privileges. But baboons can also hold grudges, and seek revenge at a later time, which suggests they have long-lasting emotional states, and complex emotional processing.

Sadness is most clearly seen in baboons with the loss of a troop member. Collective vocalisations, increased grooming and agitation in the troop are the most visible indications.  They may also go through a period where the troop appears to exhibit ‘solemn’ behaviour where they do not carry out their standard daily routine, deprioritising their primary activities in favour of increased social bonding activities. 

Joy and happiness is most obvious in baboon play, in which their enjoyment and exhilaration can be seen and heard. Grooming is another activity which generates enjoyment and contentment, and can include affectionate gestures such as nuzzling or a rhythmic ‘purring’ vocalisation.  Grooming may turn into play when tickling is involved, and may result in panting or breathy “ha-ha” sounds which sound like human laughter, or a relaxed show of teeth which is a baboon’s smile. 

A baboon exhibits surprise when startled by jumping, stiffening their bodies or rapidly looking around to assess the environment, and may lead to alarm calls and flight. Their need to evaluate their surroundings often means that a surprise can quickly turn to curiosity and an investigation into the object that has caused surprise. 

Other observations suggest that baboons also experience a broader range of emotions like affection, trust, jealousy, frustration, empathy and awe.