Africa’s mandrills are the heavyweights of the monkey world, but it’s not their large size that immediately draws attention; rather their unusual, vibrant colours.
Male mandrills have incredible colouring, possibly the most vivid in the mammal kingdom. They have long, rectangular faces with a scarlet red stripe down the middle. They have bright red lips and flared nostrils. On either side of the central stripe, they have facial ridges which vary in colour from pale blue to mauve. Their amber eyes are shaded by a red brow ridge. Their face is surrounded by a mane which is black and gold in colour and tufted on top. They sport gold beards too. The rest of their fur is grey with strips of tan and white. They have very long, yellow canine teeth.
Mandrills are heavier than any other monkey species. Male mandrills are roughly double the weight of the females; averaging at 28kg, though large males can weigh in at 54 kg.
If a mandrill turned its back on you, you would get a surprise. They have very brightly coloured bottoms! Their rumps are hairless and padded, which helps them sit comfortably for long periods on the branches of trees, just like a built-in cushion. This cushion comes in a riot of colours – red, pink, blue and mauve. The dominant (leader) males are the most brightly coloured, which makes them appear handsome and attractive to the females. The females and young males are much plainer.
Mandrills live in the tropical rainforests of Gabon, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Congo and Nigeria in Africa. They eat both vegetation and insects. Their favourite food is fruit, but they also eat vegetation such as seeds, bark, leaves and mushrooms. They scoff insects like termites, beetles and spiders, and will eat eggs, birds, rats and frogs. It is believed that they sometimes hunt and eat animals like small deer too. Mandrills have cheek pouches where they can store food to eat later. They spend most of the day foraging for food, and spend the nights sleeping in trees.
Mandrills go around in troops formed of the females and their offspring. Males usually live alone, but join and lead the groups for a few months every year during the breeding season. Often the troops gather together to form a larger group known as a horde. The largest horde ever observed had more than 1,300 mandrills.
Baby mandrills develop inside their mother for over six months. They are born in the wet season from January to May. Mandrill moms usually have just one baby. The baby is born with its eyes open and with a black coat and pink face. The females do all the raising of the young, and the mother is often helped by her female relatives.
Mandrills are classified as “vulnerable” to extinction on the conservation scale. Their numbers have declined 30% in just 30 years. This is caused by the loss of their habitat as forests are cut down and they are also hunted for their meat.
