hi there! I'm trying to find some background info about Louise the Mandrill at Melbourne Zoo. I can't seem to find any online. Like, where did she come from? Has she always been at Melbourne Zoo or has she been elsewhere? How many offspring has she had etc? Thanks so much everyone!
Hi @Tara2 and welcome to ZooChat! Louise came to Melbourne Zoo from Adelaide Zoo in 1996 with her daughter, Timbiri. She has since bred with the male, Yonaton (imported from Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo), to produce a son, Leroy, in 2007.
what happened to Leroy? Hes not at the zoo anymore is he? I wish they would breed more Mandrills at Melbourne.....
No problem Since Louise’s daughter, Tambiri, came to Melbourne Zoo in 1996, it is likely she was born 1995 or before. Given that Louise produced Leroy in 2007 (at least 12 years between these two offspring), she was obviously quite young when she had Tambiri and moved to Melbourne Zoo as Mandrill females commonly start breeding at 4-5 years and stop breeding around 18-20 years. I’d guess Louise was born approx. 1990, had Tambiri in 1994/1995 and had Leroy in 2007 aged approx. 17 years. To answer your question, she would have been quite young when transferred from Adelaide Zoo, so was most likely born there in my opinion.
Have just done so more reseach @Tara2 on Mandrills in other Australian Zoos and discovered there is a family group of six at the Adelaide Zoo, including two offspring born 2010 and 2011. The dominant male is named Tabah and was born at Melbourne Zoo 05/04/2005. Given that Melbourne Zoo have a tradition of naming their Mandrills with names starting with the first letter of their mother's name (Louise - Leroy etc.), I'd say it's highly likely that Tabah is the son of Louise's daughter, Timbiri. There was/is two Mandrills in a zoo in Tasmania, the female was named Lara and I was initially following the theory that she was a relative of Louise. However, as evidenced by their 2010 and 2011 births and Louise - Timbiri, Adelaide Zoo clearly don't follow this naming convention so if Louise was indeed born at Adelaide, it doesn't necessarily mean her and Lara are related. I've heard about the issue of hybridisation between Mandrills and Drills and your question inspired me to find out more as I previosuly knew little about the situation. For those who don't know, The Genus Mandrillus includes two species: Mandrillus leucophaeus (Drills) and Mandrillus sphinx (Mandrills). Mandrills and Drills were previously classified under the Genus Papio (Baboons). I assumed interbreeding between Mandrills and Drills was due to them having a similar appearance (like with Bornean and Sumatran orangutans) but having looked at pictures online of Drills, I really can't understand how they got confused as the same species, considering how colourful the Mandrill is. And yes @Astrobird, I also wish Melbourne Zoo had bred more Mandrills when they had the chance. Louise and Timbiri are now post reproductive so new females will need to be imported if they wish to continue breeding Mandrills. I hope more zoos in the region decide to focus on this species, as the world's most colourful mammal, and the largest Old World monkey, they truly are fascinating.
