Abstract
BackgroundGeladas (Theropithecus gelada), endemic to Ethiopia, are distributed closely related to the escarpments and gorge systems of the country, and large populations are found in the Simien Mountain National Park. This study was conducted in Eastern Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, from February 2018 to August 2019 in order to determine population size and composition of geladas. Total count method was used to estimate the population structure of geladas. Observations of the group of geladas based on body size and morphological characteristics were used to classify age and sex categories of the population. SPSS Version 20 was used to analyze the data. Chi-square test was used to compare sex ratio of geladas and population size among the counting sites between wet and dry seasons.ResultsA total of 112 and 99 individual of geladas were counted during wet and dry seasons, respectively. Of the average gelada population recorded in this study, 11.4% were adult males, 30.3% were adult females, 12.8% were sub-adult males, 25.6% were sub-adult females, and 19.9% were unidentified juveniles. However, there was no statistically significant difference among the various age and sex groups of geladas counted during wet and dry season (χ2 = 2.6, DF = 4, P > 0.05). Variations of group size along seasons were observed in this study. Sex ratio of adult male to adult female was 1:2.6 and 1:2.7 during the dry and wet seasons, respectively.ConclusionVery small gelada population size was recorded in the current study. An average of 105.5 geladas was recorded during the study period. As this is the first report of gelada population in escarpments of Eastern Tigray, population trend of the geladas cannot decide based on the current study.
Highlights
Geladas (Theropithecus gelada), endemic to Ethiopia, are distributed closely related to the escarpments and gorge systems of the country, and large populations are found in the Simien Mountain National Park
The population size in the study area was significantly higher during the wet season than the dry season (χ2 = 6.78, DF = 2, P < 0.05)
Population composition Of the total population of geladas recorded during the dry season, 13.1% were adult males, 34.3% adult females, 12.1% sub-adult males, 22.2% sub-adult females, and
Summary
Geladas (Theropithecus gelada), endemic to Ethiopia, are distributed closely related to the escarpments and gorge systems of the country, and large populations are found in the Simien Mountain National Park. Gelada (Theropithecus gelada) is a primate species endemic to Ethiopia, and most of its distribution is closely related to the escarpments and gorge systems of the country (Yalden and Largen 1992). Geladas are primate animals that are the only extant species of genus Theropithecus Both male and female geladas possess a triangular bare red skin on their chest and a crescent-. Earth’s climate in the montane grassland zones of sub-Saharan Africa may have resulted in the extinction of all the populations of the Theropithecus throughout their range in eastern and southern Africa outside the Ethiopian central highlands (Dunbar 1998). Studies indicated that the highest density of geladas, and the only place where they are officially protected, occurs is in the Simien Mountains National Park (Beehner et al 2008) and small populations of gelada occurs in Guassa (Fashing et al 2014), Wollo (Gippoliti 2010), DebreLibanos (Kassahun et al 2017; Kassahun and Afework 2017), Wof-Washa Forest in North Shewa Zone (Birhanu and Mesele 2018), and in the south of the Rift Valley Arsi Province (Mori and Belay 1990)
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