Lemurs

Lemurs can be found naturally only on Madagascar. Due to the separation of Madagascar from the African continent, lemurs became safe from competition and evolved into many species. About 63 types have been identified todate. All lemurs are endangered and 15 species are already extinct, mainly because of deforesting and hunting. The largest ever living type of lemur was the Archaeoindris with its weight ranging between 160 and 200 kg. It became extinct when humans first settled in Madagascar about 2000 years ago.

Ring-Tailed Lemur - Lemur catta
These lemurs inhabit southern and south-western Madagascar with occasional sightings in the south-eastern plateau of the Andringitra Mountains. Whilst lemurs spend most of their time in trees, this type of lemur also spends considerable time on the ground. The medium sized Ring-Tailed Lemur has a weight of 2,5 to 3,5kg with a head and body length approximately 38 to 45cm. Commonly they have a tail of about 60cm. The name of this species originated from the black and white ringed pattern of the bushy tail. The colour of the back is grey or rosy brown and the stomach is white. They live in multi-male, multi-female groups of 12 to 24 individuals. Females are dominant over males. In the early morning hours Ring-Tailed Lemurs can be seen sunbathing, sitting upright with their front legs resting on their hind legs and exposing their stomachs to the sun. They are day active and feed on plants, leaves, flowers, fruit, and even sap and bark. Sometimes they eat insects as well.