Javier Mendoza  /  The Animals  /  Land
Primates · Land

Gelada

Theropithecus gelada

Geladas live only on the high plateaus of Ethiopia, eat grass like a sheep, and gather in herds of hundreds along the edge of a two-thousand-foot drop.

A big male gelada sits on a rock with his head thrown back and mouth wide open, long mane blowing, red chest patch showing.
The Howl · Simien Mountains, Ethiopia · © Javier MendozaOrder this print
~90%
Of the diet is grass, unique among primates
University of Michigan Gelada Project
Ethiopia
Found nowhere else; highlands above about 1,800 m
IUCN
Hundreds
Herd size when family units gather to feed
Simien Mountains National Park
Least Concern
IUCN Red List, 2019; range shrinking to farmland
IUCN

The last of their kind

Geladas are the only surviving species of a genus that once ranged across Africa and into Asia. They are not baboons, though they look it. They spend their days sitting and shuffling across the alpine meadows of the Ethiopian highlands plucking grass blades and seed heads, and their nights on cliff ledges where leopards and hyenas cannot follow.

Society is layered: a male with a few females and their young makes a unit, units travel in bands, and bands merge into herds of several hundred at good grazing. The bare red patch on the chest, the bleeding heart, signals a male's condition; the lip flip that bares the gums and canines is a threat display.

The Simien Mountains

Simien Mountains National Park, a World Heritage Site, is the best place on Earth to see geladas, which graze the plateau edge at over 3,000 metres beside Ethiopian wolves and walia ibex. The species is listed as Least Concern but its grassland is being lost to farming, and most geladas now live outside protected areas.

In the collection

5 frames · prints from 12″ to 40″+
A big male gelada sits on a rock with his head thrown back and mouth wide open, long mane blowing, red chest patch showing.
The HowlSimien Mountains, Ethiopia

A gelada male announces himself across the escarpment — head back, canines bared to the sky. They call them bleeding-heart monkeys for the red patch on the chest; the highlands echo with them at dawn.

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A gelada infant clings to its mother's back in golden backlit grass, looking at the camera.
On Mother's BackSimien Mountains, Ethiopia

A gelada infant rides low across the high meadows, backlit by the first sun over the Simiens — the safest seat on the Roof of Africa.

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A gelada peers through tall seeding highland grass, amber eyes catching the light.
Through the GrassSimien Mountains, Ethiopia

Geladas are the only primates on Earth that live on grass — and in October the highland meadows grow taller than they are. Amber eyes in a sea of seed heads.

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A female gelada grooms a big male mid-yawn, his canines bared, while a tiny infant sits between them.
Grooming HourSimien Mountains, Ethiopia

Grooming hour on the plateau: the harem male leans into the attention mid-yawn, canines out, while the newest member of the unit watches from between them.

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A young gelada perches in the fork of a lichen-covered tree, highland cliffs soft blue behind.
The ClimberSimien Mountains, Ethiopia

A juvenile takes the high seat in a lichen-draped hagenia, the escarpment falling away blue behind — half lookout, half playground.

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Museum-quality prints from 16-bit masters — metal, canvas or archival fine-art paper, printed in the USA.
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Questions people ask

Is a gelada a baboon?

No. Geladas are their own genus, Theropithecus, and the last living species of it. They are often called gelada baboons because of the resemblance.

What do geladas eat?

Mostly grass, around 90 percent of the diet, plus seeds and roots. They are the only grass-grazing primate.

Where can you see geladas?

Only in the Ethiopian highlands. Simien Mountains National Park in the north is the classic place, with large herds along the escarpment.

Sources
  1. IUCN Red List, Theropithecus gelada (2019)
  2. University of Michigan Gelada Research Project
  3. UNESCO World Heritage: Simien National Park
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