Micke Grove Zoo

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Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur
Varecia variegata

  • Habitat: Coastal tropical rainforest
  • Range: Eastern Madagascar
  • Natural Diet: Fruits, leaves, flowers, seeds, nectar
  • Status in the Wild: THREATENED

Lemurs are provided with popsicles as enrichment by the Animal Care staff

Fun facts

  • Black and white ruffed lemurs are black in color and they are excellent pollinators
  • Females are in charge of their social groups
  • They are one of the largest living species of lemurs
  • They use their tails to balance when they climb
  • Their body color helps camouflage and hide them from their predators

They are highly arboreal climbing and resting on elevated platforms and tree branches in their exhibit

Conservation Threats

The major threats are:

  • Habitat loss, some agricultural practices, and logging trees for firewood.
  • Illegal hunting also has a detrimental influence on wild numbers

They are endemic to the tropical rainforest habitat found in fragmented pockets along the eastern portion of Madagascar

Their black and white color helps them camouflage from predators in their natural habitat

 

 

 

They are provided with elevated hammocks made of fire-hose that they often use

 

They like to bask in the sun in a meditative pose

 

 

 

 

Allogrooming is commonly seen in black and white ruffed lemurs

 

map Distributional range -
(All species lemurs are endemic to Madagascar, the island in black to the right of Africa)