To understand ageing, researchers look for clues in animals, such as those studied by the 51-year-old Amboseli Baboon Research Project (ABRP) in Kenya. As part of that work, Benard Oyath and Jackson Warutere prepare to take blood and other samples from Olduvai, who was tranquilised and then released back to the wild. The project’s scientists have found that baboons with strong social connections in adulthood can recover from harmful health effects of a stressful childhood.
Compared with humans, baboons offer researchers the ability to watch ageing play out over an entire lifetime. The maximum observed life span for females is 27 years and for males, 24 years. The average age at which a female that reaches adulthood is expected to die is about 18 years. The combination of observational data with genetics is revealing much about the ageing process.
After samples and measurements are taken, ABRP staff place a tranquilised baboon in a covered holding cage to recover from the anesthaesia. The baboon—in this case, Dezmond—is then released back into the wild, usually within two to four hours.
