Common Name: Ring-tailed lemur

Scientific Name: Lemur catta

These primates live on the islands of the Primate Expedition Cruise.

The zoo donates 5% of all plush primate sales
for conservation of wild primates including lemurs.

Description: This is one of the easiest lemurs to identify. Its gray top coat and light underside are quickly overlooked because of the striking banded tail. The alternating black and white pattern gives this species its common name. The ears are somewhat pointed and dark triangular patches surround the eyes. Weighing between 3 and 3.5 kg the ring-tailed lemur is agile in the trees but is mostly seen on the ground. One researcher has identified 15 separate vocalizations including different alarm calls for terrestrial versus avian threats.

Range: South and southwestern Madagascar

Habitat: Wide ranging types of forest. More terrestrial than any other lemur.

Diet: Almost Exclusively Herbivorous: fruits, flowers, bark and sap from a few dozen species, a few leaves and, rarely, insects

Social Life: Ring-tailed lemur society is female dominated even to the point of females defending the home range. Each sex has its own hierarchy. Aggression is not uncommon and includes the use of scent marking the ring-tail with wrist and chest glands. Group size ranges from 3 to 24 individuals. One and occasionally two offspring are born following a 136 day gestation. Infant mortality is approximately 50% in some areas and an average of just 40% of all ring-tail lemurs born reach maturity.

Conservation: All lemurs are threatened by habitat loss. The ring-tailed lemurs are listed by USDI as endangered and on Appendix I of the CITES. Listed as Vulnerable by the 2000 Red List from the IUCN. Vulnerable is when it is not Critically Endangered or Endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future, as defined by when a population reduction in the form of an observed, estimated, inferred or suspected reduction of at least 20% over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer, based on a decline in area of occupancy, extent of occurrence and/or quality of habitat.

Recommended LINKS & BOOKS

Primate Info Net's ring-tailed lemur page

A great reference book on primates is Noel Rowe's The Pictorial Guide to the Living Primates.

Learn even more about ring-tailed lemurs from Duke University Primate Center. You can even Adopt-A-Lemur!

Check out "the" lemur guide by Conservation International. It may be a bit difficult to find and it looks pricey for the size, but it is well worth it for the wealth of lemur information within. This provides extensive information about each species as well as overall history, conservation and the best places to see them in Madagascar.

Dr. David Macdonald's Encyclopedia of Mammals is one of the great standards for mammal information including the lemurs. Purchase it through Amazon.com by clicking on the photo to help the zoo!

A highly acclaimed video on Madagascar is from the PBS Living Edens series -- Madagascar: A World Apart.

A fun and serious look into the world of lemurs can be seen on video with In the Wild: Lemurs with John Cleese