The drill is a beautiful and little-known primate that is in a “critical” situation, with an estimated population in its natural habitat of 3.000 individuals.

• BIOPARC is actively contributing to its conservationBoth in situ, with the Foundation's projects, such as ex situ, with the reproduction program that, with 8 specimens, places Valencia among the few reference parks to contemplate this species.
• This new life is a joy and a wake-up call just over the weekend that Valencia is the center of climate change.

In the riparian forest of equatorial Africa, a new denim breeding (Mandrillus leucophaeus), and there are now five in seven years, which is a source of pride for the BIOPARC Valencia technical team. In this “multispecies” habitat lives a group of these endangered primates, surrounded by sitatungas, pygmy hippos, cercopithecus, pelicans and Nile geese. The group is made up of eight individuals, including the new calf, making BIOPARC in one of the few European venues that have more than seven specimens. These groups are made up of a dominant male, females and their offspring.

On this occasion the parents are the male, Rafiki, which arrived in September 2007 from Hannover Zoo (Germany) and the female Abuja which moved in February 2008 from Port Lympne Animal Park (United Kingdom). These births are a success within the EEP (European captive breeding program for endangered species), whose objective is to guarantee the survival of the species and make BIOPARC an “ally” in the conservation of nature's biodiversity.

Drills live in Cameroon, Nigeria and the island of Bioko (Equatorial Guinea) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), considers that this species It is one of the most endangered African primates, with about 3.000 specimens in the wild according to the “Save the Drill” association. Quite unknown compared to their “relatives” the mandrills, they have an elongated snout equipped with enormous canines that gives them a “ferocious” appearance, especially to the male who also has a beautiful mane similar to that of the lion. Also very characteristic is the color of the perianal area, which appears pink with a striking blue and violet.

BIOPARC Foundation, has collaborated for several years in a significant drill recovery and reintroduction project in the Afi Mountain Sanctuary, in Nigeria within its conservation actions in situ.