mandrill

a mandrill with its colourful face and back

a kind of animal – mammal – four-legged – closely related to ‘drill’ and ‘baboon’ – stocky body with thick light brown or olive coloured fur (hair), large head with bright red and blue face markings, large sharp teeth and mouth pouches (= bag-like skin folds to store food to be eaten later), relatively strong arms and legs, with long fingers and free moving thumbs on the front paws, short stubby tail (only three inches long), blue and red rump (= bottom part); size: 3 feet long, and weight: 15-35 Kg (females are much smaller than males); feeds on (eats) plant matter, insects and small animals; found in tropical rain forests of southern Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo in Africa

A group of mandrills is called a ‘troop’.

a mandrill “devil”

Special Features:
The mandrill is the largest of all the monkeys in the world.

Mandrills have been hunted for their meat.

Though they are called ‘the devil of the fang’, mandrills are shy and sociable animals. The aggressive gesture of baring the long sharp teeth is, in fact, a friendly gesture.

Mandrills walk on their fingers and toes, without their palms of hands and soles of feet touching the ground!

Mandrills are used in scientific experiments, and also kept in the zoos for their colourful face and rump markings.