They're Up to Something

Is it the gossip of the day, or are these ring-tailed lemurs planning an elaborate robbery? We have so much to learn about these fascinating primates.

Baobab

Quintessentially Madagascar, the lightning-style arrangement of branches set on a formidable trunk make this fortress of a tree a plant like no other.

The Golden Orb Spider

These spiders are found throughout much of Madagascar and reach the size of a human palm. This mother is weaving a nest for her offspring.

Dry Palms

Palm fronds blow in the gentle breeze on the edge of a dry river.

Lonely Landscape

In the more exposed parts of the country, a small bird or chameleon may be the only visitor for miles around. Lemurs prefer the protected crevices and cliff edges that dot the landscape.

A Black and White Oddity

Those great round orbs look so deep and ghostly behind the blue filter of a camera lens.

Hanging Arachnid

A large Darwin's Spider sets herself up for the catch of the day. Many of Madagascar's woods are heavily infested by spiders.

Ring Tailed Lemur Profile

Tufts of fur catch the light above this lemur's attentive ears. This is an attractive lemur species, with a long muzzle and deep-set eyes.

Whiskers and Eyeshadow

After applying makeup Lady Lemur steals one more glance in her mirror before heading out for the all important evening ball.

Mangled Wood

A casualty from a past tropical storm rests on a mossy stone platform.

Thorny Scrub

Spines cover the barks of these hardwood trees as vines and strangler figs hang across their branches, creating natural pulleys and walkways through the forest.

Come Home Soon

A pair of starlings roost on the upper reaches of a bare tree in Ambositra Rainforest.

Indri

The loudest and most iconic call to echo through the foothills of Madagascar’s rainforests belongs to the Indri. Calls can be heard from hundreds of kilometers away in almost ghostly notes.

Lemur Lips

The diademed sifaka makes a warning call resembling the sound "kiss-sneeze" when a terrestrial predator is perceived. The sole terrestrial predators of P. diadema are the fossa and Nile crocodile.

Tastes Familiar

Lemurs pick up the scent of a relative or rival by tasting residues of their urine left on tree barks.

Gentle Soul

A Ruffed Lemur gazes at a plate of fruit offered up by one of the park rangers. They serenity and intelligence of his gaze was endearing.

Seasonal Behaviours

Unlike other species of lemurs, black-and-white ruffed lemur females occasionally show submission and more aggression needs to be maintained in order for the female to win the interaction instead of having an undecided interaction. Male aggression does not vary among seasons.

Ruffed Lemur

Keen senses are essential for life in the rainforest. Lemur groups are highly territorial and will challenge each other for their own patch of space in the lush undergrowth.

Specialist Fruiters

Wild black-and-white ruffed lemurs have a highly frugiviorous diet, with fruit making up 92% of their overall diet. Smaller percentages of leaves, nectar, seeds, and even fungi make up the remainder. Their diet is also influenced by the seasons, with certain plant parts and fruits only ripening or becoming available during certain times of the year. Water consumption also varies throughout the year and can be influenced by diet.

A Lemur’s Call

Unlike the calls of other species, the calls of the black-and-white ruffed lemur are not likely to be for the establishment of territory for a group. The calling behavior is participated in throughout the course of a day, not concentrated at any one point of the day; however calls are usually not heard at night.

Lemurbatics 1

This Black and White Ruffed was as daring as he was flexible.

Lemurbatics 2

One last sniff of the hand to ensure that he is within his family’s territory and a day’s work is done for this lemur.

Sound of a Predator

Lemurs are preyed upon by snakes, fossas and large birds of prey. The Madagascar Sea Eagle will take prey as large as this red fronted lemur.

Evening Platter

As the day draws to an end, one final apple finds its way into a brown lemur’s belly.

Unique Habitats

The highly seasonal dry deciduous forest of Madagascar alternates between dry and wet seasons, making it uniquely suitable for lemurs. This is due to high tree species diversity which are essential for survival and might be 'diluted' of its resources which are of no use for lemurs, thus increasing energetic expenses for traveling between suitable patches.

Common Traits

Some of the lemur traits include low basal metabolic rate, highly seasonal breeders, adaptations to unpredictable climate and female dominance. Female dominance amongst lemurs is when the females are sexually monomorphic and have priority access to food.

Group Society

Lemurs live in groups of 11 to 17 animals, where females tend to stay within their natal groups and the males migrate. Male lemurs are competitive to win their mates which causes instability among the other organisms. Lemurs are able to mark their territory by using scents from local areas.

Lemur Niches

Many lemur adaptations are in response to Madagascar's highly seasonal environment. Lemurs have relatively low basal metabolic rates and may exhibit seasonal breeding, dormancy (such as hibernation or torpor), or female social dominance. Most eat a wide variety of fruits and leaves, while some are specialists. Although many share similar diets, different species of lemur share the same forests by differentiating niches.

Getting Close

We observed great intimacy between lemurs. Affiliative behavior is how primates show affection toward each other, such as grooming, touching and sitting close.

Endangered

Lemurs' problems largely boil down to human poverty. More than 90 percent of people in Madagascar live on less than $2 a day, and at least 33 percent suffer from malnutrition. This drives many to squeeze income from the island's already-stretched natural resources, often with a type of slash-and-burn farming known as tavi, which torches forest to make room for crops, or by hunting lemurs for food.

The Great Pollinator

The traveler's palm tree relies primarily on black-and-white ruffed lemurs to pollinate its flowers. Both ruffed species get pollen all over their noses as they eat fruit and nectar, and thus spread pollen to other plants as they forage.

Strange Beginnings

The story of the lemurs begins over 70 million years ago, when lemur-like animals, the planet’s first primates, roamed Africa along with the dinosaurs.

Habitat Specialists

Lemurs only live in one place in the world, Madagascar and the nearby Comoros Islands, which are off the coast of Mozambique in Africa. They occupy many different habitats: dry deciduous forests, spiny forests, rain forests, wetlands and mountains.

Enchanted Forests

At one with the forest, this lemur stands out against a flurry of foliage.

Bold Climber

Much like a stealthy tank, a Parson’s chameleon creeps through the foliage unperturbed.

Woodland Patrol

A Coquerel’s Sifaka waits for the rest of his troop to catch up. Prehensile tails, long digits and forward facing sharp eyes mean that these animals are true masters of the forest canopy.

Lost in Undergrowth

One so often finds himself taking shelter from the sun under the shade of a tree when traveling in Africa. It is in these moments of quiet solitude that opportunities to photograph wildlife and plants present themselves.

Pinocchio Chameleon

The roughened horn at the tip of this chameleon’s snout may be used to attract a mate.

Tree Lines

Branches and leaves create an intricate pattern against the sky in Monte D’Ambre’s natural reserve.

Monte D’Ambre Chameleon

A steady gaze and a grasping tail make this the perfect insect ambush hunter.

The Hunter

A scavenging mongoose gives a sharp look over his shoulder. These animals are some of the most cunning in the entire forest.

Nosy Be Black Lemur

Jet black fur and an eccentric mane gave this lemur a startling appearance. It’s almost as though he walked out of a monastery.

Heads Up

A lemur is always looking over his shoulder, looking down to the forest floor and looking upwards at the canopy above. When lemurs make a tree their home, they tend to fill every part of it.

Black Sheep

Black lemurs have a boisterous charm. Their fur is as black as crude oil and very silky around the ears and the tail.

Strong Willed

Female lemurs often bear the responsibility of protecting their homes, marking their territories with the scent of powerful hormones.

Sun Dappled

A lemur’s eyes become reflective orbs, almost unnaturally round and filled with age-old wisdom of the forest around them.

Vertical Life

This male black lemur contemplates life from an odd angle.

Nosy Kombe’s Black Lemur

Rich black fur meets emerald amber eyes to give this mammal a rather startling appearance. Top this off with eccentric tufts of hair around each ear.

Watchful Waiting

A female black lemur keeps an eye out for trouble from the safety of a baobab trunk.

Shadowy Forests

Lemurs like this female black lemur from Nosy Kombe island seek cool spots of shade in the heat of the day.

Entwined

Strangler figs and other vines climb to the highest reaches of their tree hosts in an effort to reach the sun’s rays.

Look Out Post

A black lemur looks out from his favorite vantage point. the streets of Hell Ville, on Nosy Be, become quite lively as morning progresses.