Ring-Tailed Lemur

Lemur catta

 

Conservation status

Endangered (IUCN Red List, 2016)

 

What they look like

Ring-tailed lemurs stand out for their raccoon-like markings—black-rimmed eyes and a tail with 13-14 alternating black and white bands. Their fur color runs from tawny to gray, with darker gray on the crown and muzzle. Weighing 2.5-3 kilograms (about 6 pounds), they are roughly the size of a house cat, but longer, averaging 17 inches from head to the base of their splendid 24-inch tail.

 

Where they live

In the wild, ring-tailed lemurs roam the tropical dry and spiny forests and scrub of southern and southwestern Madagascar. They usually feed and sleep in the forest canopy but spend about 40% of their time on the ground, picking their way over rocks and barren earth with their tails raised like a tour-guide’s flag.

 

What they eat

Ring-tailed lemurs have a diverse diet although they are especially fond of the fruit and leaves of the kily tree. They also eat flowers, bark, sap, rotten wood, earth, insects, invertebrates, and even human crops.

 

How they behave

Active during the day (diurnal), ring-tailed lemurs travel in troops of 6-24 animals, a mix of males and females.  Females dominate over males and may compete with each other for overall leadership. While females tend to stick with their natal (birth) group in an extended family, males migrate to another troop once they reach sexual maturity.

 

Ring-tailed lemurs communicate through scent-marking.  Females mark branches in their territory with their sexual organs while males scent their tails with secretions from wrist and shoulder glands.  Then they wave their tails at each other in “stink fights” until one runs away.

 

How they reproduce

The ring-tail breeding season begins in mid-April in Madagascar. Stink-fight winners breed with females aged 3 and older. Pregnancy lasts about 134-138 days, with births in August and September. Females generally deliver one infant once a year, but twins are common when food is plentiful. Newborns cling closely to the mother’s abdomen. After a week or two, they ride on her back. After a month, they start venturing out on their own until fully weaned at 5-6 months.

 

What threats they face

Natural predators include hawks, boa constrictors, fossae (the plural for fossa—a large, carnivorous mammal, related to the mongoose with qualities of a cat), and pet cats and dogs. Human activity is causing the greatest harm to the species. Some people keep ring-tailed lemurs as pets. Farmers destroy habitat by allowing livestock to overgraze and cutting down gallery forests to expand cropland or to make charcoal by burning wood.  Hungry people even hunt ring-tailed lemurs for food.

 

Ring-tailed lemurs at the Myakka City Reserve

The ring-tailed lemurs at the reserve demonstrate a remarkable adaptability. They spend well over half their day on the ground but they make themselves comfortable in the trees as well.  They often sun in the crowns of the tall slash pines in early morning but prefer the large, horizontal branches of the live oaks for their afternoon rest.

 

Staff and researchers have observed the ring-tailed lemurs eating a wide variety of browse found in the forest, including pine pollen, oak leaves, gall berries, high bush blueberries, and the occasional insect. This supplements official feed: fruit, vegetables, and manufactured primate biscuits.

 

In Florida, the breeding season runs from November to February, and offspring are born sometime between May and July.

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