The mandrills at Chester don't spend a lot of time on their island, but most of them were outside when I visited last Saturday. The island is thickly planted with alder trees and a variety of shrubs, so the animals appear and disappear as they forage around, sometimes you can only see leaves moving or shapes flitting through the shadows. The younger animals generally come closer to the shore, like these females. I could see the big male in the clearing in the centre of the island, which surprised me as I've only seen him outside once before. When he started to come towards the moat he attracted a good deal of attention from some passing photographers, which didn't seem to put him off. It was obvious that the younger males took care to keep well out of his way, but one or two of the females stayed close to him. I could clearly hear the low grunting noise that he made very frequently, presumably to keep in contact with the group (which I would never be able to hear in the Monkey House). He is known to be quite a nervous animal, but he certainly looked the part of the big strong troop leader and he posed quite calmly among the bushes at the edge of the island. I was favoured with a special stare. After a few minutes, he returned to the centre of the island, presumably he had satisfied himself that we were not threat. He sat down regally, with a couple of females at a discreet distance. Then an immature individual rushed up and lay down on a log right beside him. I expected a threat or perhaps a pat on the arm or the rump to make it move away. I was utterly amazed when the big, fierce male reached over and gently pulled the youngster's tail. For a moment I wasn't sure if I could believe my eyes, and although the lighting was terrible, I clicked the shutter button. Is he the biggest, scariest monkey of them all, or, deep down, is he just a big softie? Alan
Ha that's brilliant, and you have some great pics! I think that island is great, got some ok pics off there myself.
