Crowned Lemur

Habitat

Crowned lemurs live in dry, deciduous forest and rainforest of mid-altitude in northern Madagascar.

Wild Diet

These lemurs eat a diet of mostly flowers, fruits and leaves.

Behaviour

These mostly diurnal primates are social animals, living in groups of 5 to 15 individuals, the average size of the group being 5 or 6. Groups usually contain a few adults of both genders. Females are dominant over males in the group, allowing them advantages when choosing food and mates. 

Breeding

After a gestation of around 125 days, one infant or two are born. Infants ride on the mothers' bellies during the first 3 weeks, moving to nurse and sometimes later moving onto the mother’s back. Mothers nurse their young until the age of 5 to 6 months.

Conservation

Efforts to help protect areas of forest where these lemurs live in Madagascar are proving successful, although there is still a lot of illegal logging which contributes to the loss of their habitat. The estimated population size of crowned lemurs is thought to be no more than 10,000 individuals.