The Mandrill is the largest species of monkey on earth. It is a primate belonging to the Cercopithecidae family and is also closely related to the baboon and the drill. In fact, both mandrill and drill were earlier classified as baboons of the Papio genus, but recent researches have separated the former into an individual genus, i.e. Mandrillus. The physical description of mandrill entails its olive-colored fur and a colored face. The color continues to become strong as mandrills attain sexual maturity. Mandrills are a 'threatened' species, often hunted as bushmeat is considered as a delicacy by many Africans. Read on to know some interesting Facts and amazing information on mandrills.
Ten Facts about Mandrill
- Mandrills are the worlds largest monkey species. They have a body length between 63 and 81 cms (25 - 32 inches), a tail length between 7 and 9 cms (2.75 - 3.5 inches) and they weigh between 11 and 37 Kgs (24 - 82 lbs).
- Mandrills are found in the dense rain forests, coastal forests and sometimes the savannah areas of West Central Africa.
- They are social animals and they live in groups that can consist of as many as 200 members. If a group is this large it will contain both males and females, however, smaller groups of about 15 - 20 members.
- During the day Mandrills will spend most of their time on the forest floor, but at night they will sleep up in the trees for safety.
- The troops tend to have a territory of around 50 Kms (20 miles) and they will mark their territory with scent and defend it against rivals.
- Mandrills are omnivores and they mainly obtain their food by foraging on the ground. Their diet mainly consists of spiders, ants, snails, worms, grasses, herbs, leaves, nuts, bark, tubers, shoots, roots, and fruit.
- After a gestation period of between 6 and 7 months, Mandrills give birth to 1 infant.
- The young Mandrill is born with pink skin and black fur which it keeps for its first 2 months. They are born with their eyes open and are strong enough to be able to cling to their mother's belly immediately.
- Mandrills mate throughout the year, however young are mainly born between January and April. . They reach sexual maturity at about 5 years of age.
- The Leopard is the primary predator of Mandrills
