drill

Drill[1]
Drill at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN 3.1)[2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Family:	Cercopithecidae
Genus:	Mandrillus
Species:	M. leucophaeus
Binomial name
Mandrillus leucophaeus (F. Cuvier, 1807)
Drill range

The Drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus) is a primate of the Cercopithecidae (Old-world Monkeys) family, closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the Mandrill.

The Drill is similar in appearance to the Mandrill, but lacks the colorful face. They are semi-terrestrial monkeys, exhibiting extreme sexual dimorphism with males weighing up to 100 lbs (45.35 kg) - three times the size of females. They are semi-nomadic seasonally and little is known of their behavior or ecology in the wild.

Drills are found only in Cross River State, Nigeria; South Western Cameroon; and on Bioko Island, part of Equatorial Guinea. Their entire world range is less than 40,000 km2, smaller than Switzerland.

Drills are among Africa’s most endangered mammals, and are listed by the IUCN as the highest conservation priority of all African primates.^[2] Drill numbers have been declining in all known habitat areas for decades as a result of illegal commercial hunting, habitat destruction, and human development: as few as 3,000 drills may remain in the wild, the highest population estimate is 8,000. Drills have also been declining in zoos internationally.

There are two subspecies of Drill:

• Mainland Drill, Mandrillus leucophaeus leucophaeus
• Bioko Drill, Mandrillus leucophaeus poensis

Their closest relative is the mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx), found from southern Cameroon through mainland Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni), Gabon and into Congo. The two species are allopatric across the Sanaga River.

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The male drill is one of the most colourful monkeys in the world. When he is grown up he has a red chin on a black face with raised grooves exaggerating the shape of his nose. Also, his bottom is pink, mauve and blue! These bright colours help his family follow him through the forest.

WHERE ARE THEY FOUND? The drill only lives in three countries: Cameroon's Southwest Province, South East Nigeria and Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea. The drill is Africa's most endangered primate. A mother drill only has one young every six years, and a hunter can easily kill 30 Drills in a day. They are also losing their forest home. There are only 100 drills in captivity in the whole world and these are mostly non reproducing. We are extremely proud to have bred a baby here in the Mvog-Betsi zoo.

WHAT DO THEY EAT? They eat fruit, herbs, roots and small animals.

DRILL FACTS Drills live in the rain forest. A single male leads a group of around 20 females and is father to all the young. This group of 20 may join others forming super groups of over 200 individuals.

They can live for about 28 years.

Drills have a large 'big toe' or toe thumb which is very flexible.

They will often rub their chests onto trees to mark their territory.

References

External links

Wikispecies has information related to: Drill

• Mandrillus leucophaeus (TSN 573030). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 1 February 2007.
• ARKive - images and movies of the drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus)
• Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program page on the drill
• Pandrillus - Drill and primate conservation group operating in Nigeria and Cameroon
• Drill Ranch - The Drill Rehabilitation & Breeding Center, “Drill Ranch”, in Nigeria
• The Limbe Wildlife Centre (LWC) - A wildlife rescue and rehabilitation project situated in the South West Region of Cameroon.