ZooNooz Article - September 2003

Back-&-White Ruffed Lemur

Story by CAROLENE MAGNER
Photograph Leonie Saville
Illustration Ngaire Sales

Lemurs are prosimians - primates which are thought to have evolved before monkeys, apes and humans. Prosimians look much less like humans and more closely resemble primitive primates that lived tens of millions of years ago.

Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur

There are approximately 32 species of lemur, all of which are found only on the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, and two sub-species: the Red Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata rubra) and the Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata variegata).

Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs are distinguished by their strikingly long, thick fur, and a "ruff" or collar with patches of white and black which provides good camouflage in the shadowy forests of the eastern coastal rainforests. Like all prosimians they have a toothcomb, made up of six lower teeth, and this is used for grooming - a practice which establishes and reinforces social bonds.

The have a wet, naked nose, a doglike muzzle, and bright yellow forwardfacing eyes. Their forelimbs are shorter than their hindlimbs and they have well-developed hands with thumbs that can grasp and manipulate small items. They move along branches on all fours, leaping from tree to tree, and are most active at dawn and dusk when they forage in the trees for fruit, leaves and bark.

Ruffed Lemurs are generally found in small groups of two to five members, consisting of an adult breeding pair and the previous season's offspring. Once offspring reach sexual maturity the breeding female will chase them away from the group.

A variety of boisterous vocalisations and alarm calls begin as a grunt and end in a roar - a powerful territorial call. As many as 12 different types of alarm calls have been recorded, varying according to whether the danger comes from boa constrictors, eagles and hawks, fossas (weasel-like animals found only in Madagascar), or other natural predators.

Once the female is pregnant she constructs a nest of leaves for her offspring, lining it with fur pulled from her own coat. She will usually have from one to four babies which she nurses simultaneously. Unlike most primates she does not carry them on her stomach or back but instead leaves them in the nest while she forages alone. If danger threatens, she may move them by carrying them in her mouth, one by one, to another nest. Baby Ruffed Lemurs grow rapidly and, at just four months old, may reach 70 percent of their adult body weight.

Endangered

Ruffed Lemurs are classified as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (2000). They are threatened mainly by the loss of habitat as the human population of Madagascar expands and "slash and burn" agricultural techniques are increasingly practised.

There are international breeding programs for both Black-andwhite and Red Ruffed Lemurs, and the International Studbook lists approximately 400 animals. In Australasia we have focussed our efforts on Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs and there are now 33 animals in our region.

The Regional Species Coordinator is Suzy Barlow at Taronga Western Plains Zoo. Taronga Western Plains currently holds the most enetically valuable breeding pair, so it is important that these are closely monitored during the breeding season.

Lemurs at Taronga Western Plains Zoo

Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur

Taronga Western Plains' breeding pair are the female, Zig Zag, who was born at Hamilton Zoo New Zealand in 1995 and arrived in 1996, and the male, Whitetail, who was born in Cincinnati Zoo, USA and arrived from Melbourne Zoo in 1999. They are housed on their own island, which replicates the way they would live as a pair in the wild.

A second Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur island holds a bachelor display group of six males who were all born at Taronga Western Plains.

A Ruffed Lemur's mating period is extremely seasonal. Once she reaches sexual maturity at around two years of age (or as early as 18-20 months in captivity), the female comes into oestrus and is receptive to a male for only three or four days, once a year.

This small window of opportunity may vary between May and August in the Southern Hemisphere. If the female does not get pregnant during her first oestrus she will come in a second time.

Knowing if a Ruffed Lemur is in oestrus can be quite tricky, as they are very furry and female reproductive parts are well hidden. However, Zig Zag has been co-operative and keepers have conditioned her to climb a tree from where they can get a good look at her vulva for signs of the swelling of oestrus.

Lemurs return to the wild

A group of five Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs were the first lemurs to be reintroduced from a captive program back to Madagascar in autumn 1997, with a second group of four animals dispatched in 1998.

One of the captive-bred females has recently made conservation history by giving birth to twins sired by a wild male.

The reintroduction is the result of 10 years extensive research by the Madagascar Fauna Group (MFG) of which the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (UK) is a founder. Our regional Australasian zoos have been encouraged to assist this program with financial assistance through our Primate Taxon Advisory Group.

Want to read more?

By joining as a Zoo Friends member we send you a full colour, glossy magazine each quarter as part of your membership package. Join now.


« Back to ZooNooz article listing