Drill (animal)
Drill ( Mandrillus leucophaeus )
The drill ( Mandrillus leucophaeus ) is a primate of the family Cercopithecidae. Together with the Mandrill it forms the genus of baking furrows baboons ( Mandrillus ).
Description
The drill is similar to the mandrill but has not its shining face coloring. His hairless face is black, has an elongated snout and bone ridges that run along the nose. It is also surrounded by a white fringe of hair. The rest of the body is dark brown to black hairs, except the bare buttocks, which is colored red or blue. Drills are a little less great as mandrills ( about 70 centimeters body length and a maximum of 20 kg body weight ), the males are almost twice as heavy as the females. The tail is only a 5 to 7 inches long stub.
Distribution and habitat
Drills live in the area of Cross River in Nigeria and around the Bakossi Mountains to the River Sanaga in Cameroon as well as belonging to Equatorial Guinea Bioko Island, where they form a distinct subspecies, Mandrillus leucophaeus poensis. Their habitat are solely forests.
Way of life
Drills are diurnal rain forest dweller, which are hardly to be found outside of the protection of dense vegetation. They live primarily on the ground, where they move on all fours; only females with cubs sometimes seek protection in the lower branches of the trees. Drills live in groups of about 25 animals, consisting of one male, several females and their young. Several groups often join together in associations, which may include 200 or more animals. To communicate, they use body postures (eg presenting the glowing rear part ) and a series of screams which can be used by the males of contact with other group members, the warning of predators or the collection of the group.
Food
Drills are omnivores that feed almost exclusively on the ground. These include fruits, nuts, fungi, insects and occasionally small vertebrates.
Reproduction
Little is known about the propagation of the drills. The fertility of the female is indicated by discoloration of the anal region, which can be bright red or blue. The gestation period is 6 months. As with most Cercopithecidae a single young is born.
Threats and conservation
The main reasons for the threat of the drills are in the hunt for the coveted bushmeat as well as in the clearing of rain forests for the production of tropical timber and farmland. Since drills are pure rainforest dwellers and people behave towards shy, they are particularly threatened. The drill is one of the rarest African primates, and it is estimated that in the wild live only about 3000 of these animals. Protected areas in which the drill is native, are the Cross River National Park, Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, the Mbe Mountains Community Wildlife Sanctuary in Nigeria and the Korup and Takamanda National Park in Cameroon, but their survival is still questionable. The IUCN lists the species as endangered ( endangered ); it is conducted in CITES Appendix I.
The zoo - ISIS database were reported a total of 272 Drills 2007. As part of an International Weltzooverbands WAZA studbook has been operational since 1982. Also the European EAZA Zoos has charge of the kind in his European Endangered Species Programme (EEP ). EEP coordinator and studbook keeper Andreas Knieriem, Director of Animal Hellabrunn in Munich. Currently, the breeding book introduces 77 Zooexemplare world. In the Drill Rehabilitation Center in the Afi Mountains, Nigeria, living about 150 copies. In 1996 Liza Gadsby, the co-founder of the organization Pandrillus, the Whitley Award for her work to protect and preserve the species. A German organization which was established specifically for the protection of the drill, the resident in Nordhorn Club Rescue is the drill eV