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Pandrillus works in Nigeria and Cameroon in its capacity as a Nigerian-registered non-profit trust.
The name Pandrillus comes from the genus for the species Mandrillus, and the Latin word for “all”, Pan.
The mission of Pandrillus encompasses all drills - those in captivity and the wild. |
| In the 1980s, drills were believed by the international scientific community to be extinct in Nigeria and on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea. The only known population was in Korup National Park, Cameroon. In reality, drills were still found across most of their original range from the Cross River in Nigeria to the Sanaga River in Cameroon. They were being hunted relentlessly, their habitat was being fragmented and destroyed and they had been largely overlooked by the conservation community. In zoos in Europe and the USA drills bred poorly and their popluation was also in decline. No long term studies in the wild had been achieved and little was known of their biology, ecology or even where they could be found. Drills were listed by the the IUCN as the highest priority African primate for conservation action. |
| Pandrillus founders Liza Gadsby & Peter Jenkins began work in Nigeria & Cameroon in 1988. They soon after embraced the challenge of preventing the extinction of the highly endangered drill monkey Mandrillus leucophaeus. Since then, the mission of Pandrillus has expanded to include chimpanzees, and other wildlife that share the drill’s habitat in the Cross-Sanaga region, a small area in the heart of Africa with exceptionally high primate diversity. |
| Pandrillus projects use a multi-faceted approach, combining in situ and ex situ activities, including: habitat protection, captive care and breeding, research, training, small scale development schemes, education and positive advocacy, all aimed at promoting the drill as a species and wildlife conservation generally. Projects collaborate with state and national governments, communities, traditional rulers, other international and local NGOs, zoos, advisory groups, and the private sector to achieve these goals. |
| Web | http://www.pandrillus.org/ |
| Address | Pandrillus projects in Nigeria:
The Drill Rehabilitation & Breeding Center “Drill Ranch”
Cross River State, Nigeria
Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary
Cross River State, Nigeria
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Chimpanzees
The Nigerian chimpanzee Pan troglodytes vellerosus is the most endangered subspecies with a population estimate as low as 6,000 individuals out of a continent-wide species population estimate of 235,000. Vellerosus chimpanzees were only recognized as a distinct subspecies in 2001.
Drill Monkeys
Drills are among Africa’s most endangered mammals, and are listed by the IUCN as the highest conservation priority of all African primates. They are semi-terrestrial monkeys, exhibiting extreme sexual dimorphism with males weighing up to 45 kg - three times the size of females. They are semi-nomadic seasonally and little is known of their behavior or ecology in the wild. Their closest relative is the mandrill Mandrillus sphinx, found from southern Cameroon through mainland Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni), Gabon and into Congo. The two species are allopatric across the Sanaga River. |
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