Chester Zoo 

Mandrill

This is the world’s largest monkey, with a singularly striking face. It has a red stripe down its nose and blue flanges on either side of the nose, red marks above the eyes and a yellow beard. The rest of the body fur is a deep olive green colour, with grey, yellowy tinged underparts and a purple coloured rump. The facial colours are more prominent on males than females or young and they have large canine teeth which can reach up to 6.5cm in length. These are used to threaten or warn off intruders or rivals to their territory. Mandrills have short tails and stout bodies, the males being larger than females.

What they eat

Fruit, seeds, eggs and small animals.

How long they live

Up to 25 years

Biology

Mandrills live in social groups of about 40 with several groups coming together to form a larger community of about 600, which will move over an area of up to 50km square, defending that territory against rival troops. Each group within the larger community has a dominant male which leads the group and fathers most of the infants in that group. These are noisy monkeys, communicating through deep grunts and high pitched crows, with the lead male making a double grunt sound when it is time for the group to move on. They are most active in the day, foraging for food and resting high in the trees after dark. When she is ready to breed the rump of the female becomes a more intense red colour and swells. Females will give birth about every 18 months to a single infant which will at first cling to her belly and then her back as the group moves through the forest.

Did you know?

Female mandrills form a close bond with their female children which carries on into adulthood, the two often sitting together and grooming each other. The mother’s bond with male infants generally ends when the male reaches sexual maturity.