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A male mandrill with a red nose and blue cheeks sitting on rocks.
Photo: Katma0601, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mandrill

Mandrillus sphinx

The largest monkey in the world, whose males have a bright red-and-blue face and colorful rump.

🐒 Monkeys
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About the Mandrill

Mandrills live in forests of southwestern Cameroon, western Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and southwestern Congo. Males weigh 44 to 62 pounds, while females weigh up to 25. Adult males have a bright red nose, ridged blue cheeks, a yellow beard and a blue-purple rump; females and young are duller. Mandrills eat fruit, roots, leaves, seeds, nuts, fungi, insects and more, and carry food in large cheek pouches.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Mandrillus sphinx[1]
Weight
Males 44 to 62 pounds. Females up to 25 pounds.[1]
Diet
Omnivore. Fruit, roots, leaves, seeds, nuts, fungi, insects, snails and worms.[1]
Habitat
Subtropical forests.[1]
Where it lives
Southwestern Cameroon, western Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and southwestern Congo.[1]
Group life
Family groups of one male and several females, sometimes joining larger troops.[1]
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN Red List, assessed 2016).[2]

Fun facts

  • Mandrills are the largest monkeys in the world.[1]
  • A male's blue face color is part of the skin's structure, not a pigment.[1]
  • Mandrills sleep in trees but find most of their food on the ground.[1]

Vocabulary

troop
A group of monkeys or other primates that live together.
cheek pouch
A stretchy pocket inside the cheek used to carry food.
hormone
A chemical messenger in the body that controls how it works.
intimidate
To frighten someone in order to get your way.
vulnerable
A conservation label meaning a species faces a high risk of dying out in the wild.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. “Mandrill.” https://www.sfzoo.org/mandrill/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Mandrillus sphinx (Mandrill).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/12754/17952325 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

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