| Diet
In the wild their diet consists of plants, insects and small
mammals. Mandrills have cheek pouches inside their mouth
where they can store food to enjoy at a later time. At the
Zoo, we feed the mandrills a variety of fruits, vegetables
and lettuce. On Saturdays they each enjoy a small bone.
The mandrills are also given fruit loop mops and peanut
butter pinecones as special enrichment treats.
Monkey Talk
Mandrills communicate with each other using facial expressions
and vocalizations. You may see the mandrills displaying
when you visit the Zoo. If the mandrills seem to grin at
you, don’t be alarmed; keepers say it is a friendly
display.
Come See for Yourself:
Next time you are at the Zoo, be sure to look for the mandrills
next to the lion exhibit. The Reid Park Zoo has two male
mandrills and one female. Cere, the female, is about half
the size of the two males. The males are a bit more difficult
to tell apart; if you look closely you will see that DJ
has brighter coloration on his face than Ekundu. The mandrills
share an exhibit with African porcupines.
Keeper Quote
“The porcupines and the mandrills get along pretty
well overall by practically avoiding each other. Every once
in a while, a mandrill will try to play with a porcupine;
being careful of the quills. The porcupines do not seem
to be bothered; however both male mandrills have gotten
stuck with quills once or twice.” Leslie Waters has
been an animal supervisor for 4 years at the Reid Park Zoo,
and a keeper for 19 years before that.
Mandrill Fast Facts—
- The word mandrill means "man-ape"
- The largest mandrill troop contained close to 1300 individuals
- The main predator of mandrills is the leopard
- Mandrills are hunted by humans for food and considered pests in areas where they have damaged crops
- Mandrills are a vulnerable species mainly because of habitat loss
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At
the Reid Park Zoo we house over 500 animal residents ranging from
piranhas to African elephants. Join us every month as we feature
one of our very special animal residents. Who knows, next month
might be your favorite animal!
