Ring-tailed Lemur
LEMUR CATTA
HABITAT
Continuous canopy forests, bush and scrub forests (‘spiny forest’), and mixed forests.
GEOGRAPHIC REGION AND RANGE
Lemurs are only found in Madagascar. Ring-tailed lemurs live in the Southern and Southwestern areas of the island.
DIET
Fruits, leaves, flowers, seeds, sap, invertebrates, small vertebrates, dirt from termite mounds, etc.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Gray body with white bellies faces with a black “mask.” Their tail has 13 alternating bands of black and white.
LIFESPAN
Natural Habitat: 19 years
Under Human Care: Longer in human care
THREATS
Ring-tailed lemur populations have declined more than 95% since 2000. They are threatened by deforestation-caused by agriculture, mainly slash-and-burn- and additionally from hunting for bushmeat, and the pet trade. Madagascar is an extremely impoverished country with many humanitarian issues which make wildlife conservation a challenge unless these issues are also addressed.
STATUS
Endangered
FUN FACTS
Ring-tailed lemurs are the most terrestrial of all lemur species, spending sometimes as much as 40-50% of their time on the ground.
Unlike most other primates, lemurs are matriarchal- this means they live in female-dominate societies.
Ring-tailed lemurs live in some of the largest social groups of all lemurs, sometimes up to 30-35 individuals in an extended family!
Males and females look almost identical, and both weigh in at an average of 5 pounds!
Maki is the name for ring-tailed lemurs in Malagasy.
What are AZA Zoos doing for Ring-tailed Lemurs?
Their zoo population is managed through conservation breeding programs called Species Survival Plan programs, which ensures genetic diversity and species health. There are over 500 individuals ring-tailed lemurs at 100+ AZA-accredited facilities. AZA zoos fund and participate in field research focusing on the ecology of lemurs in Madagascar, the health of wild populations, genetics, training local residents in lemur protection strategies, and partnering with conservation organizations.
