The Mandrill
Created | Updated Oct 20, 2010
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<H1>
THE MANDRILL
</H1>
<P>
<IMG SRC="http://www.fotango.com/p/eba00019870f00000040.jpg" align=left vspace=20 hspace=20 alt="A Mandrill Male">
The Mandrill, <i>Mandrillus sphinx</i>, is the largest monkey, and the most colorful mammal, in the world. It is found in Africa, in lowland and montane
forests as well as in secondary forest and dense Savannah bushland. Its distribution is a narrow strip of land, at most 250 miles from the coast, that
stretches from the Zaïre river to the Sanaga river in Cameroon, with most of it lying in the country of Gabon. The closest relative of the Mandrill is
the Drill, <i>Mandrillus leucophaeus</i>, which is even rarer.
</P>
<h2>
1. Description
</h2>
<P>
The picture shows a typical male Mandrill. They look somewhat like baboons, having large heads with elongated faces and long, sharp, curved canine
teeth. Their forequarters are powerful, with arms that are about the same length as the legs. Mandrills are almost tailless, with only a short stump
sticking up above the rump. They live mostly on the ground and go about on all fours.
</P>
<P>
The most remarkable feature of the Mandrill is its face. On each side of his nose the male has two swollen, ridged areas coloured
a bright cobalt blue. His nose is long, flattened at the tip, and crimson in color, as are his lips. In addition to that he has a bright golden-yellow
to orange "beard" that extends to his cheeks, the sides of his neck and down to his chest. His ears are pinkish. The rest of his face is coloured a dark
olive to grayish brown, and his eyes are dark reddish brown and beady and peer out from deep underneath his thick eyebrows above his colorful muzzle. His
head is topped by a crest of long, dark hair that can be raised to make his head look even bigger. Because of this striking appearance, pictures of
mandrill faces are common in books about mammals. What is not so commonly shown
is that the Mandrill male is just as colorful from behind as from the front. His buttocks are large and naked and the skin is coloured with
a beautiful blend of blues, purples, pinks and reds.
</P>
<P>
The Mandrill's body is covered with longish, dense hair that is dark brown to grayish on the back and lighter below. The female is similar to the male but
much smaller with smaller face ridges and darker, more subdued coloration. Mandrill males weigh up to about 60 lbs while females usually reach only about
25 lbs.
</P>
<h2>
2. Behavior
</h2>
<P>
Mandrills, like baboons, live mostly on the ground. They do search for food in trees, but
because of their size and their virtually absent tails they are a bit awkward and unbalanced when
climbing and prefer not to go much higher than eighteen feet above the ground. In the areas where they feed, the understory of tropical forests,
there is not much sunlight and a relative scarcity of nutritious vegetation. Therefore Mandrills have to roam over large areas to find enough food. They live
in harem groups of 15 to 50 individuals, with home ranges of 10 to 20 square miles. From time to time several groups come together to
form temporary groups of up to 200 animals. Mandrills usually form bands with several males and females in each. Sometimes a very dominant male forms a harem
group, where he will be the only male, accompanied by many females. Male mandrills that fail to join bands or form their own harems remain solitary.
</P>
<P>
Why do mandrills have these incredible faces? A clue is that the dominant males in each group, in addition to being much larger than the others
are always the ones with the brightest colors. Thus his face may be an indication of his status. Those with the most fearsome faces are considered to
be the most powerful. The colorful buttocks are merely a reflection of the face, and displays the dominance of the top Mandrill even when his face
is turned away. When two male Mandrills confront each other, the one with the best face will succeed in frightening his opponent off even before they have
made any physical contact. Facial threat displays include yawining to show off their long and sharp fangs, and bobbing their heads.
Only when they appear to be evenly matched will they proceed to tackle each other manually.
</P>
<P>
The Mandrill's dangerous appearance of course also works against potential predators. But their faces and intense colors
are not only used for intimidation. They are also
used as a signal that enables Mandrills to see and recognize each other in the dark forest interior. The dominant male with his bright colors is
a shining beacon for the entire troop. The bright buttocks is also a marker that can be easily followed in the dim light. Mandrills greet each other
with a facial grimace, pulling back the lips to display the canine teeth and highlight the blue face ridges. Although this looks scary, it is only the
Mandrill equivalent of a human smile.
</P>
<P>
Other means by which Mandrills troops mark their territories and stay in touch with each other include scent markings and vocal sounds. Unlike most other
monkeys they have glands in the skin that produce distinctive smells. The dominant male does the majority of the marking.
</P>
<P>
Mandrill calls include barks, grunts, roars,
and shouts. All members of the troop use the calls, and these function mostly as contact cues, round-up calls and alarm signals.
</P>
<P>
Mandrills are often kept in zoos because of their intrigueing looks. In captivity they show many signs of possessing a quick, sharp and versatile intellect.
</P>
<h2>
3. Food
</h2>
<P>
Like most monkeys and baboons Mandrills are omnivores. They will eat anything that they can find that is consumable, digestible and not poisonous. In their
habitat that includes fruit, seeds and nuts, soft leaves, insects and other invertebrates, and small vertebrates. They will sometimes raid orchards and
plantations or food crops planted by people.
</P>
<h2>
4. Reproduction and Lifespan
</h2>
<P>
In the northern regions of the Mandrill's range there aren't significant diffences between the seasons, and births can happen at any time of the year. In
the southern regions there is a slight difference, with a dry season corresponding the the Southern Hemisphere winter months. In Gabon the mating season
is mainly from July to October. When the females are in heat, their buttocks and genital areas become swollen as a sign to males that they are receptive.
They remain in estrus for about a month. The
dominant males have privileged access to females, but some of the others, if they are daring but discreet, can manage to have a few quick and stormy
love affairs
without being caught, and thus manage to procreate. The dominant males always father the most children, and most non-dominant males die without leaving
any progeny.
</P>
<P>
The gestation period lasts about seven and a half months, and the babies are born at the height of the rainy season when there is an abundance of
vegetation. They grow quickly and are sexually mature at about two and a half years age. Females give birth at intervals of about one and a half
years. Mandrills that avoid early death can expect to live for about 45 years.
</P>
<h2>
5. Enemies, Threats and Conservation
</h2>
</P>
Two fairly large predatory felines occur in the same areas as the Mandrill: the Leopard, and the African Golden Cat, <i>Profelis aurata</i>. The leopard
reaches a bodyweight of 200 lbs while the golden cat reaches 35 lbs. Of the two only the Leopard can be considered a threat to adult Mandrills, whose habit
of living in groups is an effective defense tactic. Dominant adult males with their sharp canines and their formidable strength are actually able to injure
or kill a leopard! Nevertheless leopards and perhaps even golden cats may sometimes succeed in catching and killing
young, weak or sick Mandrills.
</P>
<P>
However, as usual, it is humans that pose the greatest threat to the Mandrill. The forests where they live are being logged for wood and cleared for
farms and settlements. This activity is accompanied by road building to make the remoter and denser parts of the forests accessible. To feed the many
people enroaching on the forests, a trade in "bush meat" has sprung up. Bush meat consists of forest animals of all shapes and sizes, caught in traps or by
hunting in the forests adjoining human settlements, with no regard for how rare or special the species may be. They are then sold as food on the large, open
markeplaces. Mandrills form a significant part of this bush meat trade. From habitat loss and hunting their numbers have declined sharply over recent years.
</P>
<P>
Conservation of the Mandrill can most effectively be done by the combination of two strategies. One is by protecting their habitat in key areas. At the
moment there isn't any large nature reserve or park anywhere in the Mandrill's range; a large park with special conservation status will do much to help
ensure their future. Outside parks, a sensible sustainable utilisation policy should be followed that will allow the forests to survive human activity
over the long term. The other strategy is to boost Mandrill numbers through captive breeding. There are already many Mandrills in captivity outside their
native areas, and they do breed under these circumstances. Through effective management, captive populations can and should be enlarged and their genetic
diversity improved and integrated through judicious animal exchange to prevent inbreeding. Conditions of captive animals should also be improved to be
more similar to their natural environment. An intelligent strategy of this kind can be a safeguard that will prevent the species from becoming extinct even
if all wild animals should be wiped out. As long as there is still a healthy and viable population of Mandrills in captivity, re-introduction remains a
possibility for the time when conditions in their native habitat again become favourable.
</P>
<P>
But let us hope that things don't ever go that far. The tropical rainforests of the world need to be saved, not only for the sake of the species that live
in them, but for the sake of all species on Earth, including us! These forests are factories of oxygen and stabilizers of the global climate, and without
them the planet may not be a very comfortable place for any kind of complicated life at all.
</P>
<h2>
6. Links
</h2>
<P>
For additional information about the Mandrill check out this web-page:
<BR/>
<a href="http://www.mindysmem.org/drill.html">Mindy's Memory - Drill and Mandrill Facts</a>
Please look at the entire Mindy's Memory Site: it is a great place with lots of information about and pictures of a great variety of primate species.
</P>
<P>
Here is a picture of a Mandrill skull. Notice the fangs and the ridges along the muzzle:
<BR/>
<a href="http://users.newscientist.net/hedbone/Mandrill/mandrill.htm">A Mandrill's Skull</a>
</P>
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<H1>
THE MANDRILL
</H1>
<P>
<IMG SRC="http://www.fotango.com/p/eba00019870f00000040.jpg" align=left vspace=20 hspace=20 alt="A Mandrill Male">
The Mandrill, <i>Mandrillus sphinx</i>, is the largest monkey, and the most colorful mammal, in the world. It is found in Africa, in lowland and montane
forests as well as in secondary forest and dense Savannah bushland. Its distribution is a narrow strip of land, at most 250 miles from the coast, that
stretches from the Zaïre river to the Sanaga river in Cameroon, with most of it lying in the country of Gabon. The closest relative of the Mandrill is
the Drill, <i>Mandrillus leucophaeus</i>, which is even rarer.
</P>
<h2>
1. Description
</h2>
<P>
The picture shows a typical male Mandrill. They look somewhat like baboons, having large heads with elongated faces and long, sharp, curved canine
teeth. Their forequarters are powerful, with arms that are about the same length as the legs. Mandrills are almost tailless, with only a short stump
sticking up above the rump. They live mostly on the ground and go about on all fours.
</P>
<P>
The most remarkable feature of the Mandrill is its face. On each side of his nose the male has two swollen, ridged areas coloured
a bright cobalt blue. His nose is long, flattened at the tip, and crimson in color, as are his lips. In addition to that he has a bright golden-yellow
to orange "beard" that extends to his cheeks, the sides of his neck and down to his chest. His ears are pinkish. The rest of his face is coloured a dark
olive to grayish brown, and his eyes are dark reddish brown and beady and peer out from deep underneath his thick eyebrows above his colorful muzzle. His
head is topped by a crest of long, dark hair that can be raised to make his head look even bigger. Because of this striking appearance, pictures of
mandrill faces are common in books about mammals. What is not so commonly shown
is that the Mandrill male is just as colorful from behind as from the front. His buttocks are large and naked and the skin is coloured with
a beautiful blend of blues, purples, pinks and reds.
</P>
<P>
The Mandrill's body is covered with longish, dense hair that is dark brown to grayish on the back and lighter below. The female is similar to the male but
much smaller with smaller face ridges and darker, more subdued coloration. Mandrill males weigh up to about 60 lbs while females usually reach only about
25 lbs.
</P>
<h2>
2. Behavior
</h2>
<P>
Mandrills, like baboons, live mostly on the ground. They do search for food in trees, but
because of their size and their virtually absent tails they are a bit awkward and unbalanced when
climbing and prefer not to go much higher than eighteen feet above the ground. In the areas where they feed, the understory of tropical forests,
there is not much sunlight and a relative scarcity of nutritious vegetation. Therefore Mandrills have to roam over large areas to find enough food. They live
in harem groups of 15 to 50 individuals, with home ranges of 10 to 20 square miles. From time to time several groups come together to
form temporary groups of up to 200 animals. Mandrills usually form bands with several males and females in each. Sometimes a very dominant male forms a harem
group, where he will be the only male, accompanied by many females. Male mandrills that fail to join bands or form their own harems remain solitary.
</P>
<P>
Why do mandrills have these incredible faces? A clue is that the dominant males in each group, in addition to being much larger than the others
are always the ones with the brightest colors. Thus his face may be an indication of his status. Those with the most fearsome faces are considered to
be the most powerful. The colorful buttocks are merely a reflection of the face, and displays the dominance of the top Mandrill even when his face
is turned away. When two male Mandrills confront each other, the one with the best face will succeed in frightening his opponent off even before they have
made any physical contact. Facial threat displays include yawining to show off their long and sharp fangs, and bobbing their heads.
Only when they appear to be evenly matched will they proceed to tackle each other manually.
</P>
<P>
The Mandrill's dangerous appearance of course also works against potential predators. But their faces and intense colors
are not only used for intimidation. They are also
used as a signal that enables Mandrills to see and recognize each other in the dark forest interior. The dominant male with his bright colors is
a shining beacon for the entire troop. The bright buttocks is also a marker that can be easily followed in the dim light. Mandrills greet each other
with a facial grimace, pulling back the lips to display the canine teeth and highlight the blue face ridges. Although this looks scary, it is only the
Mandrill equivalent of a human smile.
</P>
<P>
Other means by which Mandrills troops mark their territories and stay in touch with each other include scent markings and vocal sounds. Unlike most other
monkeys they have glands in the skin that produce distinctive smells. The dominant male does the majority of the marking.
</P>
<P>
Mandrill calls include barks, grunts, roars,
and shouts. All members of the troop use the calls, and these function mostly as contact cues, round-up calls and alarm signals.
</P>
<P>
Mandrills are often kept in zoos because of their intrigueing looks. In captivity they show many signs of possessing a quick, sharp and versatile intellect.
</P>
<h2>
3. Food
</h2>
<P>
Like most monkeys and baboons Mandrills are omnivores. They will eat anything that they can find that is consumable, digestible and not poisonous. In their
habitat that includes fruit, seeds and nuts, soft leaves, insects and other invertebrates, and small vertebrates. They will sometimes raid orchards and
plantations or food crops planted by people.
</P>
<h2>
4. Reproduction and Lifespan
</h2>
<P>
In the northern regions of the Mandrill's range there aren't significant diffences between the seasons, and births can happen at any time of the year. In
the southern regions there is a slight difference, with a dry season corresponding the the Southern Hemisphere winter months. In Gabon the mating season
is mainly from July to October. When the females are in heat, their buttocks and genital areas become swollen as a sign to males that they are receptive.
They remain in estrus for about a month. The
dominant males have privileged access to females, but some of the others, if they are daring but discreet, can manage to have a few quick and stormy
love affairs
without being caught, and thus manage to procreate. The dominant males always father the most children, and most non-dominant males die without leaving
any progeny.
</P>
<P>
The gestation period lasts about seven and a half months, and the babies are born at the height of the rainy season when there is an abundance of
vegetation. They grow quickly and are sexually mature at about two and a half years age. Females give birth at intervals of about one and a half
years. Mandrills that avoid early death can expect to live for about 45 years.
</P>
<h2>
5. Enemies, Threats and Conservation
</h2>
</P>
Two fairly large predatory felines occur in the same areas as the Mandrill: the Leopard, and the African Golden Cat, <i>Profelis aurata</i>. The leopard
reaches a bodyweight of 200 lbs while the golden cat reaches 35 lbs. Of the two only the Leopard can be considered a threat to adult Mandrills, whose habit
of living in groups is an effective defense tactic. Dominant adult males with their sharp canines and their formidable strength are actually able to injure
or kill a leopard! Nevertheless leopards and perhaps even golden cats may sometimes succeed in catching and killing
young, weak or sick Mandrills.
</P>
<P>
However, as usual, it is humans that pose the greatest threat to the Mandrill. The forests where they live are being logged for wood and cleared for
farms and settlements. This activity is accompanied by road building to make the remoter and denser parts of the forests accessible. To feed the many
people enroaching on the forests, a trade in "bush meat" has sprung up. Bush meat consists of forest animals of all shapes and sizes, caught in traps or by
hunting in the forests adjoining human settlements, with no regard for how rare or special the species may be. They are then sold as food on the large, open
markeplaces. Mandrills form a significant part of this bush meat trade. From habitat loss and hunting their numbers have declined sharply over recent years.
</P>
<P>
Conservation of the Mandrill can most effectively be done by the combination of two strategies. One is by protecting their habitat in key areas. At the
moment there isn't any large nature reserve or park anywhere in the Mandrill's range; a large park with special conservation status will do much to help
ensure their future. Outside parks, a sensible sustainable utilisation policy should be followed that will allow the forests to survive human activity
over the long term. The other strategy is to boost Mandrill numbers through captive breeding. There are already many Mandrills in captivity outside their
native areas, and they do breed under these circumstances. Through effective management, captive populations can and should be enlarged and their genetic
diversity improved and integrated through judicious animal exchange to prevent inbreeding. Conditions of captive animals should also be improved to be
more similar to their natural environment. An intelligent strategy of this kind can be a safeguard that will prevent the species from becoming extinct even
if all wild animals should be wiped out. As long as there is still a healthy and viable population of Mandrills in captivity, re-introduction remains a
possibility for the time when conditions in their native habitat again become favourable.
</P>
<P>
But let us hope that things don't ever go that far. The tropical rainforests of the world need to be saved, not only for the sake of the species that live
in them, but for the sake of all species on Earth, including us! These forests are factories of oxygen and stabilizers of the global climate, and without
them the planet may not be a very comfortable place for any kind of complicated life at all.
</P>
<h2>
6. Links
</h2>
<P>
For additional information about the Mandrill check out this web-page:
<BR/>
<a href="http://www.mindysmem.org/drill.html">Mindy's Memory - Drill and Mandrill Facts</a>
Please look at the entire Mindy's Memory Site: it is a great place with lots of information about and pictures of a great variety of primate species.
</P>
<P>
Here is a picture of a Mandrill skull. Notice the fangs and the ridges along the muzzle:
<BR/>
<a href="http://users.newscientist.net/hedbone/Mandrill/mandrill.htm">A Mandrill's Skull</a>
</P>
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