Red ruffed lemur

Red ruffed lemur

Description

The red ruffed lemur is one of the largest lemurs of Madagascar. Its body measures around 50 cm and the bushy tail is even longer, with adults weighing roughly 3 to 4 kg. It is unmistakable for its deep rust-red coat, which contrasts sharply with the black face, limbs, belly and tail, set off by a white patch on the nape.

Habitat

It occurs only in north-eastern Madagascar, in a single location — the Masoala Peninsula. There it inhabits humid tropical rainforest and spends most of its life high in the canopy. Because of its tiny range and shrinking forests, it is classed as critically endangered.

Diet

It is chiefly a fruit-eater, with ripe fruit making up the vast majority of its diet. It supplements this with nectar, pollen, flowers, leaves and seeds, moving nimbly along slender branches in the upper canopy in search of food.

Reproduction

The female is pregnant for about 100 days and, before giving birth, builds a nest of twigs and leaves in the treetops. She usually bears two young, exceptionally up to six. Newborns cannot yet cling to their mother's fur, so they stay hidden in the nest, where the parents return to tend them.

Lifespan

In human care it commonly lives to around 25 years, and occasionally more than 30. In the wild its life is shorter, as it faces predators and the loss of its forest home.

Did you know?

The red ruffed lemur is regarded as one of the world's largest pollinators: as it laps nectar from the big flowers of the Madagascan traveller's palm with its long tongue, pollen sticks to its fur and is carried from bloom to bloom.