Mandrills
Apr 30, 10:25 PM

I recently discovered that the LA zoo has mandrills. With their palm walking and long muzzle its clear that mandrills are closely related to baboons. Despite the family resemblance mandrills were recently classified as Mandrillus sphinx. While they are similar to baboons they are much larger and lack the long tail of the savannah baboons. Mandrills, in spite of the dense jungle habitat where they live, have been seen in enormous gatherings. In Lopé National Park, Gabon, the largest aggregation of non human primates was observed when approximately 1300 mandrills were seen together.

The great explorer and conservationist Michael Fay described Gabon, the primary home of the Mandrill:
“Blue seas, white sand, elephants, whales, sea turtles, monkeys, bush pigs, unbelievable scenery,” says Fay. “Gabon has it all. It has everything that everyone ever dreams about in paradise, as far as I’m concerned.”
Gabon seems like an incredilbe place that is now opening up for tourism. Visit safari adventures for more information.

The bright blue and red muzzles and piercing eyes of mandrills makes them an unforgettable primate and great subject matter for any artist. These paintings were done on a hot day at the LA zoo.

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Comments

So cool. Love these man. Typically these guys scare me, but you drew them nice ;)

— smacleod · May 1, 08:34 AM · #

Great drawings!

— Susan Fox · May 6, 05:36 PM · #