Mandrills are the world's largest monkeys, living in the rainforests of Central Africa. Their complex social lives and forest dependence make conservation essential for their wellbeing.
Wild mandrills experience stress from habitat fragmentation, which disrupts social group cohesion and access to diverse food resources. Bushmeat hunting targets large males disproportionately, distorting sex ratios and social structure. Forest loss forces groups into smaller patches where competition, predation risk, and human conflict increase. Maintaining large intact forest reserves is the most important welfare intervention for this species.