If you remember from a previous blog of mine that majority of the primate keepers’ least favourite job is cleaning the Mandrills. Since then, we have a new keeper, Holly, who has fallen hard for the cuteness of the mandrill troop. So, she has asked me to write a blog about them and here we are!
Mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) are the largest member of the monkey family. They descend from West-Central Africa including Southern Cameroon, Gabon and parts of the Republic of the Congo. Those of you that have seen Disney’s The Lion King will be familiar with the Mandrill’s appearance. They have a brightly coloured face and rear end as represented by the character Rafiki.
This species is sexually dimorphic, meaning there is a clear difference between males and females. With mandrills it is the body and teeth size and brightness of the colours which set the sexes apart. In fact, the brighter the males’ colours are, the more attractive they are to the ladies. Male mandrills do not reach full adult maturity until they are about nine years old. They must find their own food and fight other males to assert themselves as they work their way up the ranks. During this time, their bright rump and facial colours appear. The more testosterone he develops, the more vibrant his colours and the more attractive he becomes to the females. The girls will choose which males they want to socialize and breed with, only the most colourful and social males sire the majority of the offspring.
Eat or be Eaten
Out in the wilderness of Africa, the omnivorous mandrill can be found feasting on an array of plants and leaves, some fruit, lots of seeds. They make up the rest of their diet with invertebrates such as termites, ants, snails and scorpions. They have also been seen eating birds, eggs, frogs and rodents. A few cases of mandrills hunting and killing small juvenile antelope such as duiker have also been recorded!
Here at Wingham, their diet is much more civilised and, although considered “the dustbins of the park”, they eat a wide variety of vegetables, pellets, leaves and insects. Having said that, we did catch Mathius chomping on a poor wild bird this morning. However, it’s always interesting to see those natural instincts remain intact!
A significant proportion of wild mandrills are preyed on by larger predators such as leopards, pythons and chimpanzees. Even crowned eagles will take their chances with a young mandrill. Although mandrills spend most of their time on the ground, they can climb well and often sleep in trees to avoid predation.
The Troop
Mandrills live in small social units, but often join up with other small groups to form larger ones called hordes. One of the largest groups documented numbers over 1,200 mandrills! Mandrill hordes are noisy. They communicate with deep grunts and high-pitched screams while they forage and travel around. This is particularly disconcerting when you are cleaning the house and a mandrill is screaming like it’s in a horror film on the other side of a door!
Mathias
We have a group of 5 mandrills here at WWP. They’re led by the very handsome, albeit not the sharpest knife in the drawer, Mathias.
Mathias was born at Colchester Zoo 15 years ago and transferred to WWP in 2012. He took over as the alpha male when his older half-brother, Malik passed away around a year ago. He does a good job of keeping the group together but can get a little possessive over food and does not like to share.
Rafiki
Close on Mathias’s heels is the second biggest boy, Rafiki (because you must have a Rafiki in any mandrill setting). Born here at the park, 6-year-old Rafiki is a complete character. He likes to think he’s in charge and will often challenge the girls for food. He can normally be found jumping up at the windows when the public walk by or trying to grab the keepers when they have food.
Zazu
The last of the boys is the scrawniest of them all, Zazu (sticking with the Lion King theme here). At just 5 years old, he is definitely the runt of the litter. He has the dullest colouration on his face. However, he is always keen to see his keepers in the morning. He has his favourite spot on a shelf in the first bedroom where he waits every day in the hope that they might slip him a little extra treat 😊.
Madge
Moving onto the ladies… our biggest female is the lovely Madge who also came from Colchester Zoo. Easily identified by her sticking up hair which earned her the nickname ‘Mad Hair Madge’, she is mum to Zazu and can be quite shy until she gets to know you. Once you’ve broken this boundary with Madge, she will expect bottom scratches from you each time she sees you.
Olive
Mum to both Rafiki and Shenzi, we have our quietest, most beautiful mandrill, Olive. At 15 years old, Olive has lost her tail and can be told apart by her slicked back hair style. She is fairly low ranking in the group. So, is one of the last to go out for food, hanging back as not to get told off by her own kids! She will often fill her cheek pouches (imagine a hamster) quickly with food while the others aren’t looking and sneak off to eat it in peace.
Shenzi
Last up we have our smallest mandrill with the biggest attitude, Shenzi (named after a hyena from, you guessed it, The Lion King). At just 4 years old, Shenzi has the loudest scream, the biggest personality and the grabbiest little hands you could come across. Walk past her with any food and you’ll know about it. Take too long cleaning and keeping her apart from her midday pellets, and she’ll tell you about it. At least she’s pretty to look at!
Threats
Mandrills have been classed as Vulnerable since 2019 by the IUCN Red List. This is mainly due to habitat loss and the bush meat trade. Exact population numbers are unknown, but it is thought the species has declined by around 30% in the last 24 years. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful a troop to work with and I’m sure, even if they won’t admit it, all our keepers secretly like a good mandrill clean every now and again.
