Gelada Monkey

Talk About Temper

These monkeys create an interesting situation. At one hand they are extremely family oriented and social.  On the other they are highly aggressive and maintain order through a dictatorship of one head male. And to top it off the head male is in constant threat of losing his position to young rival males. More info below. 

WARNING: Below videos contain animal violence

This video sums up the situation very well

Interesting analysis of the monkey's facial expressions

Nice family introduction but sadly that's only half of their lives (the the lady is also filming right next to them!)

More close up footage

Crazy to think of this as a daily event for some people

The Gelada monkeys (Theropithecus gelad) are endemic to Ethiopian high mountain meadows. The mountain habitat is full of steep mountain cliffs which they maneuver with ease. At night they even climb under the ledges and sleep together. On average they inhabit meadows from 2000-3000 meters high up. The vegetation consist of grasses, herbs, bushes, and trees. 

The Gelada monkeys are the last species of a once widespread group of grass-grazing primates. 90% of their diet consist of  grass blades. Depending on resource availability they will shift towards flowers and herbs for consumption.  They will even dig to find roots underground. Their main competitor for food are herbivores like Ibexes (mountain goats).  They have several predators such as leopards, dogs, jackals, hyenas, and lammergeiers (bird of prey). 

Geladan families can combine to form 30 to 350 (on average) membered troops. These troops can get larger and one has been seen having 670 members total. 

Sources: 

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/gelada/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Gelada

http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/gelada_baboon