Colourful African Primates:

Mandrills and baboons

Imagine you are on a safari with friends and family in the African rainforest, and suddenly you happen to notice a bizarre, tricoloured face peering at you from behind the branches, bearing its teeth; what would you do? Run for your dear life, screaming in the belief that a primitive tribesman or a devil is after you, or scoff it off as a prank played on you by someone wearing a weird mask? Whatever you may do, no one would blame you, because, anyone would find it hard to believe that the bizarre face you spotted belongs to the largest species of monkeys in the world - the mandrill.

An endangered species, the mandrill is found in West Africa, Southern Nigeria, South Cameroon and Gabon. It is related to the baboon and even more closely to the drill, one of Africa's most threatened mammals, facing extinction, in its last refuge, Cameroon.

Even the mandrill may disappear from the face of the Earth if man does not stop clearing its forest habitat, and hunting the creature for bush meat.

Its extraordinary looks

Mandrills, unlike their cousins the baboons, are colourful creatures. They have impressive furry head crests, manes and beards which are yellowish or golden coloured, red lips, and long snouts with thick ridges that are purple and blue. These bright, distinctive colours show up at the rear end too. While the males are brightly coloured, the females display duller hues. Their coats range from dark brown to olive grey.

These monkeys with 'painted faces' have large cheek pouches inside the mouth. They often stuff food in them and go to a quiet corner to eat the food at leisure. It is mostly the females who resort to this.

The mandrills have long arms that help them when they travel long distances on the ground. They usually spend most of their time on the ground looking for food. Weighing around 25-75 lbs, they are no larger than 30 inches in size. The males are generally bigger than the females.

Lifespan, social habits and babies

Mandrills live up to 25 years in the wilds, but today they are threatened not only by their primary enemy, the leopard, but also by man.

The female gives birth to one baby which is born with its eyes open. The baby mandrill has a dark fur coat and can climb on to its mother's belly as soon as its born. By the time it reaches two months, the baby fur drops and the adult coat of fur starts to emerge.

Mandrills are social creatures and usually live in groups which consist of males, females and young. The male babies leave the group at maturity, but the females stay with the group throughout.

These groups of mandrills which number about 20 individuals or more are called 'troops' and are led by a dominant male with the boldest and most distinctive colours.

Mandrills may spend most of their time on the ground, but when evening falls, they climb on to trees to sleep, selecting a different tree each evening.

Diet and communication methods

As mandrills are omnivorous, they have a wide menu when it comes to food... spiders, snails, worms, ants, small ground vertebrates, herbs, shoots, grasses, bark, tubers, roots, seeds, nuts and fruits all make up their diet. They can never go hungry, because the rainforests are full of all these.

Like most animals, mandrills too communicate through scent markings, vocalisations and body language. Sometimes they shake their head and grin, exposing enormous canine teeth which are over two inches long. Such a sight could be pretty scary to us, but is accepted as a friendly gesture in their community.

Mandrills and drills were earlier classified as baboons, but later they were recognised to belong to a separate genus.

Let's check out about the mandrill's cousin, the baboon too.

These large terrestrial (ground-dwelling) creatures which belong to the largest family of monkeys, and are second in size only to the mandrill and drill, are found in the savanna, open woods and hills in Africa.

A French naturalist named Buffon is believed to have influenced the name babuin which means 'gaping face' and the English word baboon is said to have been influenced by the Egyptian god Babi.

There are five species, or sub-species as some researchers would argue, of this particular type of monkey. They are Checma baboon, Guinea baboon, Hamadryas baboon, Olive baboon and the Yellow baboon.

What they look like

Some of you may have seen baboons at the Dehiwela zoo and even been highly amused by the reddish pink rear sides they have. These swollen rear ends, known as callouses, are nerveless, hairless pads of skin which provide for the sitting comfort of the creatures. They are known as ischial callosities.

Baboons can be distinguished by their heads with long, naked dog-like muzzles. They have heavy brows, powerful jaws, close-set eyes, sharp fangs and either long or stump-like tails. They are about 20-32 inches long and weigh around 20-40 kg, depending on the species.

Females, which are smaller than males give birth to a single baby after six months of pregnancy. The baby is born with black fur and weighs about a kilo. The adults are generally grey to brown to yellow-brown in colour. Even though the females are primary care givers, males sometimes help by gathering food for the young and even playing with them.

These baboons are different in their appearance too with large white manes. The sizes differ from species to species with the Chacma baboon at around 120 cm long and 40 kg in weight and the Guinea baboon at 50 cm and around 30 lbs in weight. Even though they are the longest monkeys, they are slender. Even the callouses on the Hamadryas are small and grey in colour.

Found mostly in semi-desert areas, the food of the Hamadryas baboons can vary depending on availability. They spend long hours looking for food such as wild roots, blossoms, seeds, grasses and leaves, especially that of the acacia trees. Occasionally they eat termites, small mammals and insects.

Behaviour and communication

Baboons live in hierarchical groups known as 'troops', like their cousins, the mandrill. Though the common collective noun for the baboons is troop, the words 'congress' and even 'flange' are used today.

The larger males are courageous and vicious and even their primary predators, the leopards, are wary of approaching them.

Travelling in energetic troops comprising 100-200 or more individuals, the young males go at the front and rear of the troop, while the adults stay with the young and the females. The baboons like the mandrills stay mostly on the ground, looking for food such as plant matter and small mammals and even birds. They eat early in the day and at dusk.

At night they get on to the trees or cliffs to rest. When threatened, all the males get into combat and their last defence is to climb on to trees.

Baboons communicate in the same manner other monkeys such as the mandrills do. They can determine the dominant relationship between individuals, through the vocal exchanges.

Of the five species of baboons, the Hamadryas is special and is considered sacred because its name is that of the attendant of the Egyptian, Thoth.