Who would win in a fight between their two great primates?
The Chimpanzee belongs to the Hominidae family, simply known as “big apes.”
Orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, and humans are all members of the Hominidae family. The bonobo is the Chimpanzee’s closest relative among the great apes.
The Mandrill belongs to the Cercopithecidae family of primates. The drill, a close cousin, is likewise included in the Mandrillus genus.
Biologists believe the mangabey is their closest relative despite their resemblance to baboons.
Body and Description
Chimpanzees are giant apes with long black hair that sparsely cover their bodies, except for their palms, faces, and soles.
The hairless areas of their bodies are light to dark brown, depending on their age. Chimpanzees have exceptional vision and can see in color.
Their big toe is opposable, and their fingers are lengthy. Because their arms are longer than their legs, chimps can walk on all fours. This is usually referred to as knuckle-walking.
They have 32 teeth, which are very similar to human teeth.
Chimpanzees are about (3-5.5) feet (1-1.7) m tall and weigh about 70-130 pounds (32-60) kg when standing upright.
Males are often larger and more powerful than females.
Mandrills are chunky with short tails, they have prominent brow ridges, and small, tightly set, sunken eyes.
The adult male has bare-colored spots on the skin on both the face and the buttocks.
The buttocks range in color from vivid blue to violet, with a scarlet hue along the bridge and end of the nose.
The lengthy body hair is olive to brown, with a tiny beard and yellow neck fur, and black-framed eyes. Males have big canines that can grow 1.8 inches (4.5 cm) long.
The adult male is around 3 feet (90 cm) long and weighs up to 77 pounds (35 kg), making it the largest of all Old World monkeys.
Range And Habitat
Chimpanzees live in Central African tropical forests. They can be found from Gambia in the west to Uganda in the east, except in the central Zaire region surrounded by the Congo and Lualaba rivers.
Western chimps can be found from the Gambia to the Niger River.
Central chimpanzees live in forested areas from the Niger River to the Congo.
Eastern chimps can be found in the extreme eastern part of the range, from the northwestern tip of Zaire to western Uganda and Tanzania.
Chimpanzees live in a variety of habitats.
Although they are most commonly associated with tropical rainforests, they can also be found in forest-savanna mosaics and mountain forests at altitudes of up to 2,750 meters. In addition, some populations have been shown to prefer savanna habitats in particular.
Mandrill, the world’s giant monkey, is found on the west coast of Central Africa.
These magnificent primates live in southern Cameroon, western Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and southwestern Congo’s tropical rainforests, forested upland slopes, dense secondary forests, and thick bush.
Their range is restricted from the Sanaga River to the north and the Ogooué and Ivindo rivers.
Diet
Chimpanzees consume diverse foods, such as seeds, fruit, leaves, bark, honey, flowers, and insects.
On the other hand, chimpanzees hunt other animals for meat, such as monkeys and small antelope.
Feeding is typically an individual activity, but chimps will sometimes search for food together.
They often remove the twigs of their leaves and immerse them in ant or termite hills to bring insects inside.
Chimps chew leaves until they become soft and sponge-like, allowing them to suck up rainwater within tree holes when water is limited.
Mandrills eat both plants and animals, making them omnivores. They prefer fruits but may also eat seeds, leaves, and stems.
Ants, termites, spiders, and scorpions enhance their nutrition. Eggs, birds, tortoises, frogs, porcupines, rats, and shrews are also on their menu.
Mandrills can utilize their formidable canines to even kill forest-dwelling antelopes with a bite to the neck.
Behavior
Chimpanzees are intelligent, curious, noisy animals. They are social and live in informal groups ranging from ten to more than 100 individuals.
They will sometimes hunt for food in groups and share a home range that they will defend against intruders.
Chimps have complex behavioral patterns, many of which are learned with time, and they can solve simple problems, and manufacture and use tools.
They’ve even been observed using medicinal herbs to treat various illnesses. When chimps meet, they frequently touch each other and may kiss.
Chimps also groom each other and hold hands. In addition, females lavish attention on their offspring and assist one another with babysitting.
Grooming aids in establishing and maintaining social ties and also helps clean their bodies by removing dirt and dead skin.
Mandrills live in social groups called troops or hordes. A dominant male and several females make up these groups and their offspring.
The largest recorded group of Mandrills was 1,200 individuals, making it the largest group of non-human primates ever discovered living together.
Despite being mainly found on the ground, these animals can move up into the trees and choose a one to sleep in each night.
These animals have pouches in their cheeks that can be used to store food for later use.
Mandrills communicate across vast distances by roaring, growling, and grunting. Yaks, moans, and screams are used to communicate at short distances.
Back to our original question! Who would win the battle between a Mandrill and Chimpanzee?
The two primates fight in different ways even before considering their weight.
The Mandrill’s primary weapon is its massive canines, which would inflict painful wounds in the same way a predator would attack its prey.
So, if two mature alpha males were pitted against each other, I’d bet on the chimp. Mandrills are not in the same league as chimpanzees.
In general, apes are far more capable than monkeys. Chimpanzees are also far more intelligent than mandrills.
Chimps also utilize wood and rocks as weapons. In addition, chimpanzees occasionally hunt monkeys for food.
The average chimp may grow nearly twice as large as the average Mandrill, giving them a significant fighting advantage!
Adult male chimps, are not afraid of leopards, and may even aggressively seek them out to confront them when they hear their roar.
The canines of the Mandrill are longer than those of a leopard, but they lack the technique to use them effectively. These canines are used for slicing and can cause serious injuries, but they are unlikely to be able to deliver a sharp bite to the neck.
Trying to wrestle with a Mandrill is risky business, but the chimp should win this fight by manhandling and giving numerous nasty bites weakening the Mandrill!
Comparing a chimpanzee to a mandrill is much the same as comparing a cheetah to a leopard in terms of build. However, the difference may be even more significant.
Chimpanzees and mandrills have similar physical sizes to cheetahs and leopards, but a chimpanzee is more bulky and heavier, resulting in higher durability, grappling ability, robustness, and strength.
The Mandrill’s bite is powerful, but he’d be torn apart, strangled, or repeatedly slammed into the ground before being effective.
I don’t think Mandrill’s fangs are strong enough to defeat a chimp nearly twice its size.