2003 Photo Contest, Nature, 1st prize
Photographer

Michael 'Nick' Nichols

National Geographic

01 January, 2002

Three female gelada baboons bare their gums. 'Theropithecus gelada', a grass-eating, baboon-sized primate that is the last of its genus, lives only in the Simien mountains in the Ethiopian highlands. The male gelada has one chance in his lifetime to mate with females. Once he loses his dominant position, he will never get it back. A dominant male must mate with all females in the group to avoid being replaced.

About the photographer

Michael 'Nick' Nichols

Michael 'Nick' Nichols is a wildlife journalist; his narratives are epics where the protagonists are lions, elephants, tigers, and chimps. Scientist-conservationists like Jane Go...

Technical information

Camera
Canon

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