Gelada Baboon
The striking and unmistakable most common of Ethiopia’s endemic large mammal species, with a population estimated by some to be as high as 700,000. The male Gelada is a spectacular handsome and unmistakable beast, possessed of an imposing golden mane and heart shaped red chest patch, which serve the same purpose as the colorful buttocks or testicles found on those African monkeys that don’t spend most of their lives sitting on their bums. The Gelada is the only mammal’s endemic to Ethiopia that cannot to some extent be regarded as endangered. This singular primate is unique in its feeds predominantly on grasses, and it is probably the most sociable of African monkeys, with conglobations of 500 or more regularly recorded in one field. It has a harm based social structure that is regarded to be the most complex of any animal other than human.
In evolutionary terms, the gelada is something of a relic, the only surviving representative of a genus of grazing monkeys that once ranged far more broadly across Africa. The gelada stock is ancestral not only to the modern baboon that have largely displaced them in savanna and other open habitats, but also to the baboon like drills of west Africa and to the smaller and more arboreal mangabeys, both of which readapted to the rain forest habitats.
This endemic species is distributed throughout the northern highlands, where it is generally associated with cliffs and ravines, and one can see them as soon as he/she over landed in the Simien Mountains National Park, which forms the species’ main stronghold, and they are also numerous on the Gussa Plateau. They are often seen in the vicinity of Ankober, Debre Sina, Debre Libanos and the Muga River gorge near Addis Ababa.
Other Endemic Mammals
Walia Ibex
Endemic to Ethiopia, Walia Ibex, formerly widespread in the northern mountain massifs, but now restricted to the Simien Mountains National Park, where it is uncommon but quite often seen by hikers.
Mountain Nyala
Ethiopia’s one fully endemic antelope species is the Mountain Nyala (Tragelaphus Buxtoni). The mountain Nyala is similar in size and shape to the Greater Kudu but it has smaller horns with only one twist as opposed to the greater Kudu’s two or three. The shaggy coat of the Mountain Nyala is brownish rather than plain grey, and the striping is indistinct. This elegant and handsome antelope live in herds of five to ten animals in juniper and hagenia forests in the southeast highland.
Menelik’s Bushbuck
Belonging to the same family as the Mountain Nyala, the Bushbuck shares with them the family characteristic of shy and elusive behavior. Over forty races of Bushbuck have been identified, which vary considerably both from the point of view of...
Ethiopian Wolf
This beautiful animal was once widespread over the Ethiopian plateau lands and was often observed by travelers with its fine red coat shining in the sun, making it easy to spot against the greens and browns of the grasslands. Its frightening decline in numbers is due not only to indiscriminate shooting, but also to outbreaks of rabies, which certainly decimated its numbers in the Simien area. In this part of Ethiopia it is now extremely rare, even rarer than the Walia Ibex, but it has another stronghold, in Bale, which the Walia doesn’t.
Swayne’s HeartBeest
Swayne’s Hartebeest lives in open country, light bush, sometimes in tall savanna woodland. These are social animals and are normally seen in herds of 4 – 15, up to thirty. Each herd is under the leadership of the master bull which leads the females with their young. The territory is defended by the male; you may often see them grazing peacefully, with the bull on slightly higher ground acting as sentinel for his herd.
Giant Mole Rat
Giant Mole rat (Tachyoryctes macrocephalus), also known as the giant root rat, plays a much more serious role in the ecology of the Afro alpine communities of Ethiopia. It is endemic to Ethiopia, where it is confined to high altitude shrub and grasslands in the Afro alpine habitat of the Bale Mountains (3000 – 4377 meter). Their present distribution may be only a fraction of their former range as a result of their specialization to montane habitats, which are shrinking, as well as to increased isolation between populations.