| Drill[1] | |
|---|---|
_(7609817756).jpg) | |
| Male at Limbe Wildlife Centre, Cameroon | |
 | |
| Female with infant atTierpark Hellabrunn inMunich, Germany | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Family: | Cercopithecidae |
| Genus: | Mandrillus |
| Species: | M. leucophaeus |
| Binomial name | |
| Mandrillus leucophaeus (F. Cuvier, 1807) | |
| Subspecies | |
 | |
| Drill range | |
Thedrill (Mandrillus leucophaeus) is aprimate of the familyCercopithecidae (Old World monkeys), related tobaboons and even more closely to themandrill.
The drill is a short-tailed monkey up to 70 cm (28 in) long, similar in appearance to the mandrill, but lacks the bright blue and red on the face of that species. It has highsexual dimorphism in weight, with males weighing up to 20 kg (44 lb) and females up to 12.5 kg (28 lb).[4]
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The body is overall a dark grey-brown. Mature males have a pink lower lip and white chin on a dark grey to black face with raised grooves on the nose. The rump is pink, mauve and blue. Female drills lack the pink chin.
Twosubspecies of drill are accepted by some authorities,[4] but are not considered distinct by others:[5]
Their closest relative is themandrill (Mandrillus sphinx), found from southern Cameroon through mainlandEquatorial Guinea (Rio Muni),Gabon and into the Congo. The two species areallopatric across the Sanaga River.
A dominant male leads a multi-male multi-female group of 20–30 individuals, and is father to most of the young. This group may join others, forming super groups of over 100 individuals. They are seasonally semi-nomadic, and will often rub their chests onto trees to mark their territory. They are semi-terrestrial, foraging mainly on the ground, but climbing trees to sleep at night. The females give birth to a single baby; twins have been recorded once at the Drill Rehab & Breeding Center in Nigeria.[4] The average longevity in captivity is 28 years.The diet is primarilyfrugivorous, taking a wide range of fruit, but they also eat herbs, roots, eggs, insects, and small mammals on occasion.[4][6]
Drills are found only inCross River State inNigeria, southwesternCameroon (south to theSanaga River), and onBioko Island, part ofEquatorial Guinea, inrainforest habitats. Their entire global range is less than 40,000 km2.
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, with the highest population estimate only 8,000. A total of 174 drills recovered from illegal capture are in semicaptivity at the Drill Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre in Nigeria, with high success rates in breeding recorded there,[7] and about 40 in other zoos internationally.[4]
