DENVER ZOO WELCOMES
MANDRILL "RAFIKI"
Visitors Can See the Colorful Monkey Now
Denver Zoo welcomes a new colorful, monkey friend. A 14-year-old male mandrill, named Rafiki (Raf-ee-key), just arrived at Denver Zoo. Rafiki comes to Denver Zoo from Toronto Zoo as part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which ensures healthy populations and genetic diversity among zoo animals. At Denver Zoo, he's being paired with young females Saba and Tuki, 8 and 9-years-old, respectively. Visitors can see Rafiki exploring his new habitat now in Primate Panorama.
When hearing Rafiki's name, many visitors may think of the wise, monkey character in Disney's The Lion King, but "rafiki" is also a Swahili word meaning "friend."
Mandrills are the largest monkey species in the world. Adult males average almost 3 feet long and can weigh up to 60 pounds. Adult males are very colorful. The thick ridges along their noses are purple and blue. Their noses and lips are bright red and they have golden beards. These bright colors are thought to be attractive to females, but because they also show up on mandrill's rear ends, experts believe this enhances the male's visibility as he leads his troop through thick forest vegetation. Adult females have very dull coloration on their faces.
Mandrills have large cheek pouches that open beside their lower teeth and extend down the sides of their neck. These pouches can contain nearly a full stomach load of food when fully stretched. When competing for food or foraging in a dangerous place, mandrills can quickly cram food into the cheek pouches then retreat to a safe place to eat. They use the back of their hand to push food out of the pouches and into their mouth.
They are found in the tropical and coastal forests of Central Western Africa, in countries such as Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Exact mandrill population numbers in the wild aren't known, but the World Conservation Union (IUCN) classifies them as vulnerable. Their numbers are dwindling mostly due to habitat destruction and hunting. Logging is destroying forest habitat and the demand for bush meat has increased not only to feed growing populations in Africa, but also to feed the export market in Europe.
Denver Zoo is committed to conserving mandrills in the wild. To that end, the zoo has pledged more than $15,000 over the next three years to a project in central Gabon. The two main components of which will educate the local population about the importance of mandrills and fund surveillance patrols to reduce bush meat hunting.
