Hello! We are magnificent and amazing mandrills. We are a very special and distinct monkey species. There are a lot of interesting things about us that you would love to know, have a look:
- We are the world’s largest monkeys. We are larger than baboons. The Largest one according to Guinness Book of World Records, weighed 60kg.
- We are the most colorful monkeys in the world. Charles Darwin wrote about us in his book “The Descent of Man”: “no other member in the whole class of mammals is colored in so extraordinary a manner as the adult male mandrill’s”.
- Did you know? We live in very large groups, normally more than 600 individuals.
- The largest group of our species ever observed is found in Lope National Park in Gabon (about 1300 individuals in the group).
- We have a unique way of carrying food around. We use our large cheek pouches to stuff the food in our mouth.
- If you are an animated movie lover, you must have definitely seen the movie “The Lion King”. “Rafiki” is the character in the movie which is a mandrill.
- We have several other names like forest baboon and Man ape.
- If you know enough about monkeys, you must know how intelligent we are. We are capable of using tools like sticks.
- We are seen in various artworks, as various toys and can be seen as interesting exotic animals in various zoos around the world.
SOME QUICK NOTES:
Our Scientific Name: Mandrillus Sphinx.
Our Identification: Very big monkeys with red stripe on the face with blue ridges on either side.
Our Habitat: tropical rainforests, gallery forests, savannas, rocky forests, flooded forests, stream beds and cultivated areas.
Our range:
Our Food habits: Omnivorous; feed on plants, fruits, leaves, bark, fibers, stems, mushrooms, ants, crickets, snails, scorpions, termites, beetles, spiders, small birds, tortoises, frogs, porcupines, shrews, rats and eggs.
Our Breeding Period: June to October.
Our Gestation Period: about 175 days.
Number of infants born: 1
Lifespan: 31 years in captivity, more in the wild.
IUCN red list status: Vulnerable
CITES: Appendix I
Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule II
SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Cercopithecidae
Genus: Mandrillus
Species: M. sphinx
COMPLETE DETAILS ABOUT US FOR ANIMAL ENTHUSIASTS:
Mandrills are primates belonging to Old World Monkey family. They were once classified as Baboons. They are scientifically called as Mandrillus Sphinx
HOW WE LOOK:
We are very distinct monkeys. We are largest monkeys in the world and are one of the most sexually dimorphic species (males and females being very different). Males of our species are almost double the size of females. Males are 75cm-95cm long, 55cm-65cm high and weigh 19kg-37kg whereas females are 55cm-66cm long, 45cm-50cm high and weigh 10kg-15kg.
We are more ape-like in our structure. We are muscular and compactly build with think limbs. We have a think fur which is olive green to dark grey in color. Yellow and black bands are present on several parts of our body and we have a white belly. We have furless face with a long muzzle (nose and mouth).
We have red nostrils and red lips. There is a red stripe running down in the middle of the face with blue color ridges present on either side of the stripe. We have very colorful butts with a large pale pink skin on our butt. We have small tails, yellow beard, and long canines. Our colorful skin is dependent on dominance. Subordinate males suppress their colors as it invites fights.
Both males and females look similar but vary largely in size and females are not as colorful as males. Young ones of our species lack color and have pale skin.
WE ARE FOUND IN:
We are found in a specific area in Africa. We can be found in Nigeria, Gabon, Congo, South Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea.
In our range, we live in tropical rainforests, gallery forests, savannas, rocky forests, flooded forests, stream beds, and cultivated areas. We live in extremely large numbers (100s).
WHAT WE EAT:
We are omnivorous primates. We eat hundreds of varieties of plants, fruits, leaves, bark, fibers, stems, mushrooms, ants, crickets, snails, scorpions, termites, beetles, spiders, small birds, tortoises, frogs, porcupines, shrews, rats and eggs.
OUR REPRODUCTION:
We are highly social monkeys living in very large groups (in 100s). These groups consist of multiple males, females and young ones. Dominant males present in the group mates with many females and can be identified by its highly colorful fur. Fights are rare but can be seen for dominance. There is also dominance hierarchy in the females. Males usually live alone but join the group during mating season. Our mating/breeding season is from June to October.
Females give birth to one offspring at a time and the gestation period is about 175 days. The young ones are taken care of and fed mostly by the female and also close monkeys and relatives of the female. The young, if male, gets away to the borders of the group after 6 years and if it is a female, it stays with the female group.
The young reach sexual maturity at about 3- 4 years of age. Our lifespan in captivity is 31 years and less in the wild.
MORE ABOUT US:
We mostly live on land but compared to baboons, we live on trees more.
We walk on our knuckles and fingers. This is called as digitigrade quadrupedalism.
We are silent primate however, being in large groups it is really noisy around us. We make silent and bared-teeth face.
We are intelligent species like any other monkeys. We are capable of using tools like sticks to clean ourselves.
Grooming is an important part in maintaining our social bonds.
OUR CONSERVATION:
We are species mostly affected by habitat loss due to deforestation. We are also hunted by humans in our range for meat which is called as Bushmeat. We are extremely threatened in Congo. However, we are bred in controlled environments and introduced in the wild to maintain our populations.
We are listed as “Vulnerable” in the red list of IUCN, listed in CITES Appendix I. In India, we are also protected under Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 Schedule II.
