meet jesse, the new male mandrill! he's been out of quarantine for three days now and making himself right at home. he didn't seem to be much interested in the ladies. i mostly saw him eating, pulling up grass and grabbing on tree branches. in fact he looked up and was like "eh, don't bother me while i'm eating!" i was lucky to get these pix as i find it hard to get good ones of them (and most of the small primates). that's why i don't have many to post and (worse) have never been able to ID the females and tell them apart. i don't see their faces enough to distinguish between them, but its something that i want to know. hopefully soon! ... the male mandrill is one of the most gorgeously colored creatures in nature. this guy is cute and i love his little mohawk! ... jesse is 11 years old and came to sfzoo from rolling hills wildlife adventure in kansas. ... i think it will be good for the family to have a new member after the losses of jaho and pearl. ... (add) since jesse's arrival, i have been watching the mandrills more and more. the dynamic is really interesting as i have found out that in his previous home he lived in a bachelor group, so coming here to live with a group of females, seems to be a curious thing for him. he is on recommendation to breed with cleo, who from what i've witnessed is the least interested in him. lulu and tatu seem to be the ones who buzz about him most. i saw him chase lulu and it reminded me of kindergarten kids who don't know how to admit they like each other. he still seems to like eating best, and was eyeing my corndog! i felt bad and turned when i took a bite.
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That is awesome news to hear that we got a new Male Mandrill but I will always miss Jaho and his smiles he would give me every time I visted him. When it comes to the females the smallest mandrill is Lulu she is easy to spot cause she is small but she also is the most active of the females. I believe another one of the females name is Pearl and she is the one that has problems with her vision and normally is eating alone.
ReplyDeletei miss jaho too! you are lucky you got smiles from him. i didn't get to know him that way, but have been told he liked the ladies both primate and human! ... jesse is pretty cute! i watched him for awhile today. the ladies are buzzing around him. i was told the males wait for invites from the females? so i guess they are working that out. ... now that jesse is there, and the ladies are a buzz, i've been able to see them more. a docent that is also a mandrill parent gave me some good tips for distinguishing them, which i'll post as well, but thankx for the lulu tip! ... the others are cleo and tatu. sadly pearl passed earlier this yr.
ReplyDeleteBummer to hear about Pearl. I have not visited the Mandrills since Jaho died cause I could not bring myself to the enclosure since I miss him and his smiling face but now that Jesse is there I will have to check him out. Lulu use to love to tease Jaho by shoving her butt in his face and then quickly snatching Jaho's food. I wonder if she will do the same with Jesse.
ReplyDeletei know, i did the same thing after wandering over there and seeing the notice up about jaho's passing. ... lulu has been presenting her rear to him and she has her own special trick it seems. when she gives him the butt, she wiggles her tail too! its pretty cute. a keeper said that she had been treated bad by her brother and that it took over a year for her to get to the point of grooming jaho. ... i'dlike to see one of thoseladies snatch food from jesse! i think he likes his food more than anything and will protect it!
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