Mandrills are the world's largest monkey species and require complex social groupings and rich environmental stimulation to maintain psychological wellbeing in captivity, making social and foraging enrichment central to their zoo welfare.
Mandrill welfare in captivity presents challenges similar to those of other large, socially complex primates: the need to maintain appropriate social groupings in spaces that are orders of magnitude smaller than wild home ranges, while providing sufficient complexity to engage an intelligent, active forager. Mandrills in well-managed zoo groups show a wide range of natural behaviors including social grooming, play, foraging, and the complex signaling behaviors associated with dominance and social bonding. Social enrichment for mandrills should include varied group compositions across life stages, regular introduction of novel foraging challenges, scatter feeding that requires sustained searching and manipulation, and enclosure designs that provide multiple retreat spaces for subordinate animals to avoid conflict with dominant individuals. Conservation relevance through participation in studbook-managed breeding programs adds purpose to captive management.