A few weeks ago one of our keepers went to Douala to visit some family. Near their house he discovered an adult male mandrill tied up outside a house. It is of course illegal to keep mandrills, which are endangered animals, in private houses. Therefore we contacted the Chief of Wildlife in Douala to help us with a confiscation. The confiscation and the legal prosecution are not done by us, but by officials working for the government. Last Thursday two of our keepers and our veterinarian went to Douala to take care of the animal during the confiscation and to bring it back to the wildlife centre.  We expected that we needed to sedate the mandrill to get it in to the travel box, but the mandrill has been living as a pet in the house for seven years and was very tame.  He just walked into the box.

The owner told us that he was using the mandrill as a guard to take care of his house. He even told that he sometimes left his children alone in the house and put the mandrill outside to protect them. The mandrill lived as a part of the family and was eating the same food as them. They even gave him beer. He seems to be in a good condition though.

The mandrill is called Jake and is a beautiful fully colored adult. We have added Ndogpassi to his name, as he was confiscated in the Ndogpassi area in Douala. He is now in our quarantine where he has to stay for 3 months, so that we are sure he hasn’t got any diseases he can spread to the rest of our mandrills.I worry about the day when we have to introduce him to our mandrill group. First of all we already have adult males in the group, and secondly Jake clearly does not know that he is a mandrill. He is so used to living with humans, and he probably has not seen other mandrills for the last 7 years, so it will be difficult for him to understand their “language” and their behavior. Hopefully he will learn it!

I will keep you updated on Jake.

Best wishes,

Sofie