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Habitat: Madagascar,
rocky and forested areas. Forages on ground most of the time.
Longevity: 8 to
10 years in the wild - 15 to 18 years in captivity
Gestation: 145
to 150 days
Diet: Fruits and
leaves in wild. In captivity - primate biscuits, apples, oranges,
grapes, raisins, bananas, lettuce, carrots and whole wheat
bread with peanut-butter.
Coming exclusively
from the island of Madagascar, these prosimians evolved separately
from other primates when Madagascar broke off from Africa.
The ring-tailed lemur live in large family groups led by an
alpha female. Males within the group are always subservient
to females. Although spending most of their foraging hours
on the ground, they are extremely agile in the trees, jumping
great distances in an upright position using the hind-legs
exclusively. The breeding season is synchronized with all
females giving birth within a short period of time. In captivity,
we expect all of our babies to be born either in March or
early April. Young females usually remain within the family
group, while young males are usually expelled upon reaching
maturity at 2 to 3 years of age.
The ring-tailed
lemur, like all lemurs, is an endangered species and is fighting
a losing battle for existence in Madagascar. Habitat destruction,
logging, over population of human inhabitants and slash and
burn farming, have all contributed to the destruction of what
was once a beautiful island paradise. Due to captive breeding
programs, such as our at the Natural Bridge Zoological Park,
there are more ring-tailed lemur in captivity than there are
in the wild. Hopefully these animals may serve a a reservoir
of genetic material should the need ever arise. The Natural
Bridge Zoo maintains several different breeding groups of
ring-tailed lemur in other zoological parks. This ensures
genetic diversity and allows us to help other parks display
these beautiful and interesting animals.
Copyright
@ 2005 - Natural Bridge Zoo
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