GELADA BABOONS
Harem or Sisterhood?
by Linda Waddell

It is an amazing sight to see so many baboons in one place at the same time, all happy to eat, groom and play so close to each other. Geladas are highly social and live in separate harem groups that travel together as huge bands of up to 400 baboons. Each harem group consists of one dominant male, his 4 - 6 females and their dependent youngsters. With his showy impressive looks, you would expect the males to be in charge! But the real power in gelada society actually lies with the "sisterhood" of females - a true feminist society ! The females are all related and manage fine if their "token" male is temporarily removed from the harem.

Gelada females only have one infant every two years; thus, the babies can enjoy the undivided attention of their doting mothers for two whole years. The female's two nipples lie close together on the centre of her chest so that a lucky youngster can sometimes indulge in sucking from both nipples at the same time!

Much of life for a young gelada is spent tumbling and play fighting, and there are always lots of playmates around. Youngsters often find playtrees in the afternoon which they maniacally run up and down. Their seemingly light fragile bodies can survive plummets of over 15, which occasionally happens as they race up and down the trees.

Understandably, the dominant male is highly protective of his precious gathering of breeding females who are continually under the watchful eye of a bachelor group that is never far away. The harem male will display his ferocity to any overly brave bachelor who approaches his females -all geladas can perform a remarkable lip flap where the highly elastic upper lip flips back on itself to reveal two inch long canines and a fleshy upper jaw. This coupled with a flash of their pink eyelids makes for an impressive show of manhood!