Grooming and ectoparasite load in wild baboons.

This data set underlies results presented in Akinyi et al. 2013, Animal Behaviour, (Role of grooming in reducing tick load in wild baboons (Papio cynocephalus)). The study was conducted on adult members of a wild baboon population in Amboseli, southern Kenya. The data set includes demographic data on individual age, sex and group membership, as well as behavioural data on grooming and dominance rank. The dataset also includes tick counts and packed cell volume (PCV) analysis from baboons darted during darting and immobilization projects in 2007–2008. Subject numbers represent each individual data was collected for. Sex describes whether the individual was female (F) or male (M). Year darted indicates the year in which each individual was darted. Age describes each individual’s age (to the nearest year) at darting. Social group at darting categorises the group each individual belonged to at the time of darting and group size indicates the total number of individuals in the group during the six months that grooming data was retrieved. Grooming counts 6 months prior to darting contains the counts of grooming received by each study animal in the 6 months prior to their darting date. Mean PCV at darting is calculated from the average of two to three replicate PCV measurements were obtained per animal during darting. Adult and larvae tick counts are the number of ticks collected and counted from each individual. These data were extracted from the long-term relational database for the Amboseli Baboon Research Project, BABASE.