Birth of a Mandrill

Recently, our most attentive visitors have been able to spot a young mandrill huddled close to its mother. This new birth brings the group's total number to 15 individuals. The youngster is already proving to be very curious and adventurous; it constantly seeks to explore its environment which demands its mother's full attention, requiring her to devote much of her energy to keeping it close by.

A cousin of the baboon, the mandrill shares the same elongated muzzle but has a much larger head. Adult display bright colored faces and hindquarters; the higher an individual's—particularly a male's—rank in the hierarchy, the more vibrant its coloration.

The species inhabits the dense forests of central west Africa, ranging across Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and south-western Congo. Groups typically consist of 30 to 40 individuals that communicate via deep grunts and travel long distances in search of the seeds, fruits, tubers, insects, and small vertebrates that make up their diet. These groups can sometimes merge into massive hordes numbering several hundred mandrills!

Females give birth to a single offspring after a six-month gestation period. Males reach sexual maturity around the age of 8 or 9. They must then attempt to assert themselves to work their way up the ranks and lead a harem of females, which they will vigorously defend to maintain their exclusive mating rights.

Classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, the species is threatened by habitat destruction—particularly due to logging—but above all by poaching for its meat. Yet, mandrills play a crucial role in forest regeneration by dispersing undigested seeds while they travel.