The Mandrill is recognized by its olive-colored fur and it's colorful face and rump. With males, this bright coloration grows stronger with maturity. The female Mandrill has duller colors. This coloration becomes more pronounced as the monkey becomes excited. The coloration on the rump is thought to enhance visibility in the thick vegetation of the rainforest and aids in group movement. The Mandrill’s Males can weigh up to about 60 lb (30 kg), females weigh about half as much. They can grow to be about 1 m long (39 in) and they can survive up to 25 years in captivity, but the lifespan when not held in captivity is about 20 – 30 years. Females reach sexual maturity at about 3.5 years. The Mandrillus Sphinx is a primate, that is closely related to baboons and even more closely to the Drill which is another primate of the Cercopithesidae family.

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The Mandrill is the world's largest monkey species. The word mandrill means "man-ape". The mandrill is not only the largest monkey in the world, but it is also one of the most unique. It has a very remarkable face, with a red stripe down the nose and blue flanges framing it. The male has a much more colorful face than females and juveniles, with more prominent hair growth around the nostrils and huge canine teeth, measuring up to 6.5 cm long, which he exposes to threaten any rivals or predators. This amazing monkey has red fur patches above the eyes and a yellow mane-like beard, while the rest of its body is covered with thick olive green fur. Its under parts are gray, tinged with yellow, and its body is stocky, with a short tail and a brilliantly blue to purple coloured rump.

Males are much larger than females, and more boldly coloured. With this amazing appearance, the male mandrill declares its identity to other animals, as well as announcing his sex and virility to females.

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Mandrill’s are found in the tropical rainforest of southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo. Mandrills are social creatures and may be found in groups of up to 800 individuals, mostly females and young led by a dominant male. Most adult males are solitary. It is impossible to accurately estimate group size in the forest. The filming of a group crossing a gap between two forest patches or crossing a road and playing back the tape at slow speed is the only reliable way of estimating group size. The largest group verifiably observed in this way contained over 1300 individuals, in Lopé National Park, Gabon - the largest aggregation of non-human primates ever recorded.

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The Mandrill is an omnivore and get’s its food by foraging (mainly plants, insects and smaller animals) from the ground as it is terrestrial. They browse on a wide range of foods, covering 3 to 5 miles a day in their foraging along the forest floor. They will eat nuts, seeds, leaves, insects, fruit, bark, grass, fungi, and small animals. Mandrills have cheek pouches that can hold a substantial quantity of food, leaving their hands and feet free for running and climbing. At nighttime, the Mandrillus Sphinx sleeps in trees.

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Its main natural predators are leopards. A large group of mandrills can cause major damage to crops in a very short time, and where common they are widely perceived as pests. Mandrills are hunted for food throughout their range, either with guns or using dogs and nets. In Cameroon, habitat loss to agriculture is also a threat. Although the Mandrill does not usually hunt for larger prey, males have been seen to hunt and consume duiker, witch is a small antelope. Bush meat hunters and habitat destruction pose the two biggest threats to this endangered species.

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The slow reproductive rate of mandrills puts their population at even greater risk. Some interesting facts about the Mandrillus Sphinx are… The gestation (pregnancy) time for the Mandrill is 6–7 months and young are usually born between January and April. However, the mandrill mates throughout the year during the estrus cycle, which occurs once every 33 days. The interbirth interval is typically 13-14 months. Mandrill infants are born with their eyes open and with fur. They have a black coat and pink skin for the first two months. They cling to their mother's belly immediately and can support their own weight. Mothers form bonds with their children. These bonds last into adulthood with the daughters, while the bonds with the sons last only until his sexual maturity. These bonds entail the two sitting with each other and grooming each other.

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Author: Austin B

Published: 02/2007

 

Thanks to… http://www.phoenixzoo.org , http://en.wikipedia.org , http://www.arkive.org , http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/M/Mandrillus_sphinx.asp , http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/12754/all , http://www.blackwell-synergy.com , http://monkeymaddness.com/taxonomy_photos/species.html.

 

Photo Credit: Malene Thyssen, www.mtfoto.dk/malene/