A protected, high-altitude savanna in Ethiopia is helping ‘bleeding heart’ geladas survive—for now.

If you want to protect the world’s only grass-eating monkey, saving the grass is a good start. But Getaneh’s forebears weren’t in it for geladas. They were trying to save themselves. Native vegetation is everything in the highlands. Slender, sturdy stalks get strung into thatch and used for roofs. Men braid grass into rope. Women and children tie blades, sheaths, and stems into brooms and torches. Grass gets stuffed into mattresses. The prickly shafts even drive off fleas.

Source: National Geographic