FaunaHub
VUVulnerablePartial review

Mandrill

Mandrillus sphinx

Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx), a large monkey with a vivid red-and-blue face.

Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx).

Image: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

At a glance

IUCN category
VU · Vulnerable
Animal group
Mammals
Population trend
Decreasing
Last verified

Conservation overview

The mandrill is the largest monkey in the world, famous for the vivid red and blue colouring on the faces of adult males. It is assessed as Vulnerable.

It travels in very large groups on the forest floor.

Range & habitat

Rainforests of west-central Africa, including Cameroon, Gabon, and the Congo.

Major threats

Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.

  • Hunting for bushmeat
  • Habitat loss
  • Fragmentation

Why it matters

As a large, seed-dispersing forest primate that forms some of the biggest primate groups known, the mandrill is a flagship for central African rainforest conservation.

Gallery

A mandrill showing its colourful face.

Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx).

Image: Malene Thyssen, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources

Sources for Mandrill

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are male mandrills so colourful?
Dominant males develop bright red and blue facial and rump colouring, which signals status and health; the more dominant the male, the more vivid the colours tend to be.
Why is the mandrill Vulnerable?
Published assessments cite hunting for bushmeat, habitat loss, and fragmentation across west-central Africa. See the IUCN Red List.

Last updated: