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).
They have brown/olive grey coloured fur and males have a very distinctive red and blue face and rump, and an yellow/orange coloured beard. This colouration grows stronger with sexual maturity and is more pronounced when the animal becomes excited. Females tend to have duller colours.
Habitat
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 will be lead by one large male and the rest will be females.
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.
Diet
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.
Breeding
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 and the inter birth interval is approximately 13 - 14 months.
