Geladas are unique primates that graze on grasses rather than foraging in trees, and their welfare in zoo settings requires large, grass-covered enclosures and management of their complex multilevel social societies.
Gelada welfare in captivity presents the challenge of meeting the needs of a highly specialized grazer in a zoo context where providing large, high-quality grassy enclosures is expensive and space-intensive. Without grazing substrate, captive geladas cannot engage the feeding behavior that occupies the majority of their natural activity budget, resulting in behavioral deficits and inactivity that indicate welfare compromise. The multilevel social structure of geladas requires management that maintains the one-male unit structure within larger bands, as social instability within these units causes chronic stress. Zoos with large outdoor areas seeded with appropriate grasses and managed for gelada grazing provide substantially better welfare than those relying entirely on provisioned food without foraging substrate.