Chester Zoo Mandrills at Chester

taun

taun

Well-Known Member
On a recent trip, I noticed that there were a number of baby mandrills in the group (I gather the 3 new females have settled in well ;)) and the group has grown quite fast!

However I also noticed a couple of sub-dom males in the group, are these new animals or are they earlier offspring from chesters group? Chester had at least one sub-dom male before the new females arrived.

ISIS lists Chester has having 7.8. and four born in the last 12 months.
 
taun said:
However I also noticed a couple of sub-dom males in the group, are these new animals or are they earlier offspring from chesters group? Chester had at least one sub-dom male before the new females arrived.

ISIS lists Chester has having 7.8. and four born in the last 12 months.
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The 'subdom' males are earlier offspring of one the two original females(who are a mother and her daughter, also originally from Colchester). I was told only one(presumably the mother) will rear young- I think at Chester she has had two males then a female offspring, and maybe another baby since then?

Are all the Mandrills living together in a single group nowadays?
 
Pertinax said:
The 'subdom' males are earlier offspring of one the two original females(who are a mother and her daughter, also originally from Colchester). I was told only one(presumably the mother) will rear young- I think at Chester she had two males then a female offspring.

Are all the Mandrills living together in a single group nowadays?
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They are all in one group and makes for an impressive dipslay now.
 
taun said:
They are all in one group and makes for an impressive dipslay now.
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The original breeding female may have had another baby since then. Last time I went they had I think 3.3. and of course there's been a big increase since with the new females breeding too.
 
Pertinax said:
The original breeding female may have had another baby since then. Last time I went they had I think 3.3. and of course there's been a big increase since with the new females breeding too.
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The enclosure looks better for it, it looks more full without giving the view its overcrowded.

I even saw them outdoors last time I visited :eek: Which is something I think I have only seen once before. :D
 
taun said:
The enclosure looks better for it, it looks more full without giving the view its overcrowded.

I even saw them outdoors last time I visited :eek: Which is something I think I have only seen once before. :D
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I've only seen them outside once at Chester though I'm not a regular visitor like yourself. The bigger the group the more active they become(true of many primates) due to greater social interaction- increased activity may lead to fuller use of enclosure and going outdoors more. I believe the ones at Trotters have the same reluctance to go outside- like Gorillas this is essentially another Forest species which likes overhead cover for much of the time but in the wild the groups cross or maybe forage in open clearings every so often.

Colchester's big group(about 23) are shut outside in the daytime but there is a system of box-like shelters connected by planking for them to use and they are often to be found resting/hiding in these.

I would like to see somewhere keep a really big group of Mandrills e.g. 50 -100, what a display that would be.
 
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the only time i've been to chester ( :( ) i watched the group outside in their fantastic enclosure, i really don love their enclosure. it really does feel like you are looking trough the forest to see them. unfoprtunatley my camera was not every good..but i spent ages just watching them grooming, foraging and (youngsters) climbing. one of my best animal moments so far :D

i also would like to see another collection displaying a large group of mandrills in a naturalistic environment...

whats paignton's enclosure like?
 
foz said:
i also would like to see another collection displaying a large group of mandrills in a naturalistic environment...

whats paignton's enclosure like?
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I'd actually like to see a group in a drive through wooded area in a Safari Park such as at Woburn. They aren't any bigger or more dangerous than Savanah baboons which are a traditional species in Safari Parks.

Paignton's enclosure is very ordinary, a small patch of grass with a couple of bushes, surrounded by a hotwired fence, plus an indoor 'house'. There are only half a dozen Mandrills(4.2)
 
The sub-adult males all have contraceptive inplants so there is no aggression with the breeding male. Most of these young males are going to France later this year along with some surplus Lion-tailed Macaques and Sulawesi Macaques.

A strange fact that I learnt today was that because I was wearing a bplue shirt and a blue coat the dominant male mandrill would be submissive to me because I had more blue 'skin' on my body than he had. I was amazed to learn this.
 
Pertinax said:
I believe the ones at Trotters have the same reluctance to go outside- like Gorillas this is essentially another Forest species which likes overhead cover for much of the time but in the wild the groups cross or maybe forage in open clearings every so often.
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Every time i`ve been to Trotters they have always been outside round the large rocks in the middle of the enclosure,they have always been very active on my visits as well.
 
bongorob said:
A strange fact that I learnt today was that because I was wearing a bplue shirt and a blue coat the dominant male mandrill would be submissive to me because I had more blue 'skin' on my body than he had. I was amazed to learn this.
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Interesting fact :D.

Thanks for the Information Bongorob, do you know where in france?
 
The impression I got was that each male was to go to a diffrenet breeding group. I don't have any names.
 
zoogiraffe said:
Every time i`ve been to Trotters they have always been outside round the large rocks in the middle of the enclosure,they have always been very active on my visits as well.
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Someone I know was told by a keeper they were reluctant to come outside. Good news if they are using the outside area more nowadays.
 
bongorob said:
A strange fact that I learnt today was that because I was wearing a bplue shirt and a blue coat the dominant male mandrill would be submissive to me because I had more blue 'skin' on my body than he had. I was amazed to learn this.
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Didn't know that either though it figures- but how did you find that out????
 
bongorob said:
The sub-adult males all have contraceptive inplants so there is no aggression with the breeding male. Most of these young males are going to France later this year
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I think that will be two(or is it three?) subadult males. Nearly all the Mandrills in UK (except South Lakes' and Paington's) including Colchester stock, are descended from the Southport/London breeding lines but probably not closely related to European lines, so they have been able to place them as breeders.
 
Pertinax said:
Paignton's enclosure is very ordinary, a small patch of grass with a couple of bushes, surrounded by a hotwired fence, plus an indoor 'house'. There are only half a dozen Mandrills(4.2)
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Paignton only has 3.2 now with little prospect of breeding at the moment. Males are Brutus born 1988, Jumanji, 2003, and Brutus's son, Akello, 2005. The females are Biffa, born 1991 but hand reared so a 'social outcast' and Makemba, Brutus's daughter born 2005. I'm envious of other zoo's breeding successes.
 
Gigit said:
Paignton only has 3.2 now with little prospect of breeding at the moment. Males are Brutus born 1988, Jumanji, 2003, and Brutus's son, Akello, 2005. The females are Biffa, born 1991 but hand reared so a 'social outcast' and Makemba, Brutus's daughter born 2005. I'm envious of other zoo's breeding successes.
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Yes, I realised I'd added an extra male and forgot to change it.:rolleyes:

Best thing they could do is exchange the daughter for an unrelated female. The daughter is quite valuable genetically as this group aren't from the London/Southport lines but fitting her into an existing group would not be so easy...
 
bongorob said:
A strange fact that I learnt today was that because I was wearing a bplue shirt and a blue coat the dominant male mandrill would be submissive to me because I had more blue 'skin' on my body than he had. I was amazed to learn this.
Click to expand...

Paignton's hand reared mandrill, Biffa, always displays submissive behaviour to me, and sometimes the youngest (mother reared) female does too. I can understand Biffa being drawn to humans (she avoids mandrills) but maybe with Makemba it's a size thing? Fascinating creatures. I'd love to see a larger group.
 
How many females have died in recent years and did more than one of these breed ?
 
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