A group of geladas monkeys (Theropithecus gelada), pictured above, huddle to keep warm on a cold day in the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany. Endemic to Ethiopia’s cold Afroalpine and sub-Afroalpine grasslands, the species is the only primate, apart from humans, that primarily lives on land rather than trees. They spend most of their time grazing grass and have complex social systems focused around vocal communication, hugging, and grooming, especially between females. “On this day … the chill in the air made ideal conditions for a gelada group hug that included some mutual grooming,” Julie Larsen, Mongabay’s photo editor, said of the moment she captured in 2014. “As I looked down on their gathering, the monkey in the middle peered up at me, clearly benefitting from her fortunate position,” she added. “Then, the group closed over her, a single blanket of chocolate-colored shaggy fur against the elements.” According to Dario Fraschetti, a scientific assistant at Wilhelma Zoo, animals with short hair, as in the photograph, are likely females. Males have distinctive long manes and a bright red mark on their chests. Of the 30-40 gelada monkeys that live at the zoo, the vast majority are females, which is similar to their social structure in the wild. The zoo participates in a Europe-wide effort to keep a healthy captive-bred population of the species in partnership with EAZA Ex situ Programme (EEP). Hugging between females in the wild has been observed to increase between unrelated mothers during the first months of their offspring’s life, which researchers said may be to “improve female cohesiveness against males, thus reducing the risk of infanticide, which is particularly high in geladas.” The monkeys also display social behaviors that are rare among mammals such as consoling and protecting victims of conflict. And like humans, they also exhibit contagious yawning, which is thought to be linked to empathy. The species is listed as least concern by the IUCN, the global conservation authority. Though the organization notes that the conservation status is partially due to an absence of detailed data on their geographic range and demographic trends. Aerial population surveys in the 1970s estimated a population of approximately 440,000 geladas. But a recent synthesis looking at studies published between 2009 and 2024 put the current population estimate at just under 30,000; though, the authors noted that further studies are needed. Research has also found that gelada monkeys have an interesting relationship with Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis). Reminiscent of the friendship between humans and dogs, a 2015 study found that the two species don’t display aggression toward each other. Wolves were observed spending more than an hour roaming among the monkeys in peace while looking for rodents. Moreover, the study found that the wolves had more rodent-hunting success while in the company of Gelada monkeys. Banner image: Gelada monkeys engage in a group hug in Wilhelma Zoo in Germany. Image © Julie Larsen.

Thinking of going on safari? You’re not alone.  The popularity of African safaris has led to a boom in safari companies, and scenes of overcrowded wildlife sightings and new tourism developments are becoming increasingly common in places like Kenya's Maasai Mara. Recently, a Kenyan court dismissed a legal challenge against The Ritz-Carlton, Masai Mara Safari Camp, allowing the controversial luxury development to continue operating, despite concerns from conservationists and Maasai leaders that it could disrupt an important wildebeest migration route. From the colonial origins of national parks to modern luxury tourism, conservation in Africa has often been shaped by outsiders’ visions of nature. In this episode of Conservation Entangled, host @izzysasada explores how these tensions are still playing out today.

Using plants instead of vulture parts for belief-based practices is helping to tackle poaching of the birds in some regions of Nigeria, say conservationists. Vulture populations have collapsed in Nigeria. The country was once home to seven vulture species; recent surveys recorded only two, the critically endangered hooded vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) and the palm-nut vulture (Gypohierax angolensis). Habitat loss, poisoning and poaching for belief-based uses, such as the use of vulture parts in traditional medicines or to bring luck or success, are the primary drivers of their rapid decline. In recent years conservation groups, including the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), have engaged with traditional medicine practitioners to reduce demand for vulture parts. Stella Egbe, species conservation manager at NCF, told Mongabay that many practitioners are switching to plant alternatives, likely because of awareness-raising, increased law enforcement and higher prices of vulture parts in some regions. Chief Samson Ola Soyoye, vice president of the National Association of Nigerian Traditional Medicine Practitioners, told Mongabay the use of vulture parts has a long history in medicinal practices in Nigeria. “That's when the vultures were many but now [they are] rapidly going into extinction,” he said. “My view is to look for alternative plants instead of vultures.” More than 20 plants are now used in place of vulture parts in some places, Egbe said, adding that the conservation status of the plant alternatives also needs to be assessed. To date, the African mahogany tree (Khaya ivorensis), also known as oganwo, is the only species used as an alternative by practitioners that is assessed by the IUCN Red List. It’s listed as vulnerable owing to large declines in numbers. Another species, the violet tree (Securidaca longipedunculata), known locally as ipeta, is also thought to be declining owing to overharvesting. Egbe said NCF plans to cultivate medicinal plant species that are at risk of being overharvested in protected areas. Soyoye said his organization has had success engaging with registered practitioners in southwest Nigeria to encourage the uptake of plant alternatives, but awareness needs raising to reach more. Enforcement at a national level to tackle vulture killings and the sale of their parts in markets is also required, he said. Regional differences in the uptake of plant alternatives follows patterns of traditional beliefs, said Michael Manja Williams, a PhD Candidate at the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University. In south and east Nigeria, cultural norms generally prohibit the killing of vultures, aligning with conservation messages, so practitioners are often more willing to stop using their parts, he told Mongabay. In the north and west, beliefs link the presence or sight of vultures to bad luck or ill omens and demand for vulture parts appears to be growing there. Overall, Egbe said she is “cautiously optimistic” about the progress made, but added “We're still far away from celebrating the successful recovery of vulture populations.”. Banner image: A hooded vulture. Image by Mibby23 via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Founder's Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries.

In Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers and trackers are working to habituate a group of about 60 bonobos. The aim is to help the great apes accept a limited human presence, first for research, and later for carefully managed tourism. The process is slow. Trackers may leave camp around 3 a.m. to reach the previous night’s nesting site before the bonobos (Pan paniscus) wake. They then follow the group through the forest until the endangered apes build new nests in the evening. “The whole idea of habituation is that you meet the group every day in a very friendly, non-interactive way so they accept you as part of the forest,” Felix Bofeko, an assistant researcher in the program, told Mongabay’s David Akana. Habituation requires the same people, same restraint, and same routine, repeated long enough for the animals to stop treating human presence as a threat. When the work began, the bonobos fled at the sight of people. Now, Bofeko says, researchers can sometimes remain with them for two or three hours. Two visitors may be tolerated. Three or four may still be too many. The work has value even before tourism begins. Habituated animals can be observed more closely. Researchers can collect fecal and urine samples for genetic, pathogen, and diet analysis. Salonga is part of the Bonobo Diversity Project gathering standardized data across the DRC. Camera traps and acoustic monitoring are also being introduced, with the hope that real-time systems could eventually detect gunshots and help guide patrols. Health risks must be managed carefully. Great apes are vulnerable to human-borne diseases, including respiratory infections. Salonga’s staff follow screening and hygiene protocols, wear masks near bonobos, and keep a minimum distance from the animals. The closer conservation gets to wildlife, the more it depends on discipline. The project also shows how much field conservation depends on local relationships. Salonga’s managers have hired locals, including former hunters whose knowledge of the forest makes them strong trackers. More than 10 local people now have jobs linked to the project. Park staff have also installed internet hubs and complaints channels in nearby communities, giving residents a more regular way to communicate with management. That work matters because many people around Salonga have long associated the park with restrictions, enforcement, and arrests for poaching. Bonobo tourism remains a future prospect. The more immediate change is that some residents are being paid for knowledge that once supported hunting and is now being used for protection. For funders and conservation planners, Salonga offers a useful lesson. The visible result may one day be a visitor watching bonobos in the forest. The work behind it is less visible: patient tracking, health protocols, local hiring, basic infrastructure, and enough continuity for both people and animals to adjust. Read the full story by David Akana here. Banner image: A bonobo in Salonga National Park. Image courtesy of Alice Péretié/Chengeta Wildlife.

Founder's Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries.

The white-necked picathartes is easy to miss. In Taï National Park, in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire, it nests beneath rocky overhangs, shaping mud cups against stone walls deep inside the forest. It may appear for only a few seconds, long enough to show its bare yellow head, black cheek patches, and long-legged frame, before it vanishes again into the trees. The bird’s elusiveness reflects the kind of habitat it needs, reports contributor Ryan Truscott for Mongabay. Taï is the largest intact remnant of the Upper Guinean rainforest, a forest type that once stretched across much of West Africa. Its boulders, old animal trails, giant mahoganies, duikers, hornbills, monkeys, and river hogs are part of a system that still retains much of its original complexity. The white-necked picathartes (Picathartes gymnocephalus) depends on rocky nesting sites and surrounding forest cover. Other species help maintain the forest itself. Hornbills, primates, and mammals move seeds through the canopy and across the forest floor, helping trees and lianas regenerate far from their parent plants. That makes Taï important beyond the survival of any single rare species. Protected areas are often judged by their boundaries, patrol numbers, and better-known animals. A fuller measure is whether ecological relationships continue: animals using long-established routes, seed dispersers moving between fruiting trees, birds returning to nesting walls, and rangers knowing enough of the forest to find those places again. Keeping those relationships intact depends on ordinary field capacity. Rangers need training, equipment, safe access, and time in the forest. Local organizations need support to monitor species whose decline may be easy to miss until it is advanced. Conservation groups need to treat field signs, ranger knowledge, and repeated observations as evidence. Asked what the white-necked picathartes means to Ivorians, ranger Gliman Hyacinthe gave Truscott a simple answer: “It’s rare. It’s beautiful.” In Taï, the bird also points to a forest where the conditions for rare species are still present. Read Ryan Truscott’s story here. Banner image: A white-necked picathartes (Picathartes gymnocephalus). These curious-looking birds frequent boulder-strewn parts of the rainforest, building their nests on stone walls of overhangs and caves. Image by Charles J. Sharp via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Conservationists warn that vulture populations in central African countries like Chad are increasingly at risk due to belief-based use in Nigeria and Benin. Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra, a research fellow at the International Bird Conservation Partnership, told Mongabay he was out in Chad, photographing vultures, when a man offered to help him capture the birds. Vultures love donkey meat, the man said. All Chaffra had to do was buy a donkey and leave its poisoned carcass in the open. The man told Chaffra he had helped many people catch vultures this way. In West African countries like Nigeria and Benin, vultures are poached both alive and dead for beliefs that they bring luck, success or protection against witchcraft. Vulture parts, including head and feet, eggs and nests, are also used. This demand is now reaching vulture populations in Central Africa. [caption id="attachment_321506" align="alignnone" width="750"] A juvenile hooded vulture for sale at a market in Benin. Image courtesy of Abiola Sylvestre Chaffra.[/caption] In a recent paper, researchers detailed how critically endangered hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) were absent around most slaughterhouses and landfill sites they visited near N’Djamena, Chad’s capital. “That doesn't really make sense, because there's a ton of food,” said study co-author Nico Arcilla, president of the International Bird Conservation Partnership. Nearly half the local residents interviewed by the researchers said they knew of recent poisoning incidents in the area, and more than one-third stated they were aware of poachers from countries such as Nigeria, Niger, Benin and Cameroon trapping or killing vultures. “The driver appears to be coming from West Africa, and it generally seems to point back to Benin or Nigeria,” Arcilla said. Belief-based use practices appear to be largely absent in Chad, she added. In another study, led by Chaffra, surveys in Benin’s traditional markets found that while most vultures on sale originated from other West African countries, such as Ghana, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Niger, there were also birds from Cameroon and Gabon. Another 2025 market survey in Benin found a small number of birds sourced from Cameroon. A 2014 paper revealed that vulture parts on sale in Nigeria were sourced from as far as Sudan. “In several cases, trade appears to cross national borders, highlighting the need for regional cooperation to better understand and combat these networks,” Chaffra said. Darcy Ogada, program director at The Peregrine Fund who wasn’t involved in the research, said it isn’t surprising the supply chain is very far-reaching since vultures in West Africa have become scarce. “That should raise the alarm,” Ogada added. “It's going to keep moving to where populations are relatively much better.” Arcilla said that awareness-raising in communities, law enforcement, and conservation efforts are urgently needed, targeting both natural and urban areas where vultures persist. “It is also necessary to continue research into supply chains and to promote sustainable alternatives in order to reduce demand for vultures and their parts,” Chaffra said. Banner image: A pair of hooded vultures. Image by Nico Arcilla.