Gelada  (Theropithecus gelada)

The fossil group to which the gelada belongs was once widespread throughout eastern and southern Africa, but all except this species vanished as the grasslands upon which they relied shrank (2) (4) (5). Although geladas are still relatively abundant, and classified on the IUCN Red List only as Least Concern, their highly specialised ecology deems them dependant upon their unique environment and thereby vulnerable to habitat change (7). Ethiopia’s growing human population and expanding farmlands are therefore putting the species at risk, with fields of crops and pastures of horses and cows now encroaching on gelada terrain (4). Furthermore, geladas have been shot as crop pests by farmers where they have been accused of raiding locally cultivated lands (7).

The gelada is listed on Appendix II of CITES, permitting only monitored quotas of trade between countries. It is also now illegal to hunt, kill or collect the species unless it is by government authority, which is only granted if it is deemed to be in the national interest or for the purpose of science. Additionally, the largest population of geladas exists within the Semien Mountain National Park, which is fully protected (7). Since the gelada is so highly adapted to its unique environment in the cool heights of the mountain meadows of Ethiopia, it is imperative that the conservation of the species focuses on the protection of this remaining habitat. As the last surviving species in a once great dynasty of grass-grazing primates, the gelada is a precious relic of its fossil relatives that we must preserve (4).