Mandrills

–**Ushari**, **The Lion Guard: The Rise of Scar**

**Mandrills** are monkeys that appear in ***The Lion Guard*** universe. They live in the **Pride Lands** and the **Tree of Life**.

## Appearance

Mandrills are easily recognized by their olive-colored fur and colorful faces and rumps (though females have duller colors). They also don't have long tails.

## Information

*"No other member in the whole class of mammals is colored in so extraordinary a manner as the adult male mandrills."*
—Charles Darwin
Mandrills are native to southern Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Congo. They are mainly found in tropical rain forests and occasionally woodlands. They are omnivores, but prefer plants over meat since it is easier to access. Mandrills mostly eat invertebrates, such as ants, beetles, termites, crickets, spiders, snails, and scorpions. They will also eat eggs, and occasionally vertebrates, such as birds, tortoises, frogs, porcupines, rats, and shrews.

Like lions, mandrills are social creatures and live in large groups (one is recorded to have had over one-thousand individuals). These groups are called "hordes" and are led by one dominant male. Their mating season takes place from June to October. They breed every two years. Because of this rapid rate in birth, mandrills have a long life span; they can survive up to forty years in captivity.

Males weigh fifty to eighty pounds (some growing to be over one-hundred) and females are usually half that weight, around twenty to twenty-four pounds. The average male is eighty-one to ninety centimeters long (thirty-two to thirty-six inches) and the female is usually fifty-six to sixty-six centimeters long (twenty-two to twenty-six inches), with the tail adding another five to eight centimeters (two to three inches). Overall, the mandrill is the world's largest species of monkey.

## History

### **The Lion King**

Mandrills are portrayed very accurately in the film, aside from the fact that they have tails (something that was commented upon by Rafiki's animator, James Baxter, who called Rafiki "mutated").

In the beginning of the film, Rafiki, the most prominent mandrill, is revealed to be the chief adviser and close friend of the lion king, Mufasa. He is given the task of holding the newborn lion prince, Simba, before the rest of the Pride Lands, in order for the Pridelanders to bow before their future king. He anoints the cub and performs the initial rites of passage before holding him up before the gathered animals. Later on in the film, the audience is given a view of Rafiki's tree, the home of Rafiki. The trunk is covered with cave art, and hollowed-out skins of fruit are seen hanging from the tree branches. This furthers the fact that Rafiki is considered shaman of the Pride Lands.

Later, after Scar has usurped the throne and Simba is pronounced dead, Rafiki catches Simba's scent on the breeze. He travels a long distance from the Pride Lands until he reaches the jungle where Simba has been living all these years. Through wisdom and a bit of craziness, Rafiki further convinces Simba to return to Pride Rock and claim his kingdom. At the film's climax, Rafiki joins in the giant battle, using his stick to defeat the hyenas. At the very end of the film, he holds up Simba and Nala's newborn cub before the Pride Lands, continuing the tradition of the great circle of life.

## Notable mandrills in *The Lion Guard*

* **Rafiki**
* **Nefu**
* **Makini**
* **Kitendo's Troop**
	+ **Kitendo**
	+ **Fikiri**