Mandrills are the world's largest monkeys and live in large social groups in Central African forests. Their welfare faces threats from bushmeat hunting and habitat loss.
Mandrill welfare is threatened by bushmeat hunting and habitat loss that disrupts their complex social groups. Targeting of large males through hunting removes socially important individuals and disrupts the reproductive and social dynamics of hordes. Logging roads that penetrate previously inaccessible forest dramatically increase hunting pressure by enabling access for hunters with firearms. Protected areas in Gabon support viable mandrill populations, but protection outside park boundaries is limited. Community forest management programs that provide alternative protein sources and restrict hunting access improve welfare for both mandrills and the communities that depend on forest resources.