Found in the southwestern part of the island of Madagascar and on some small neighboring islands, the Ring-tailed lemur with its distinctive ringed tail and huge staring eyes is threatened by habitat loss.

The Cango Wildlife Ranch recently acquired 5 of these primates (4 males and one female) who became part of the Valley of Ancients family and are looked after by Curator, Luke Gibbs and have crept into the hearts of all the staff at the Ranch. We are hoping to breed with these endangered animals in the future and to educate visitors on the repercussions of habitat destruction.

Interesting facts:

Lemurs were often though of as ghosts by early explorers to Madagascar due to their huge staring eyes, elusive behavior and haunting sound that they make. These primates spend most of their time in the trees and can usually be spotted early morning sitting in the sun with their arms spread out.

A troop consists of up to 15 – 20 individuals in which the females rule. When territorial fights break out between groups, the females are on the front lines and will threaten the opposing females by leaping and darting towards them. It is also the female lemurs that will mark trees with their scent to warn other intruders. Males usually stay in the background until the battle is over and should a squabble break out between a male and a female, the female always wins the argument!

Males tend to come and go from one troop to another whereas females will stay in the troop they were born into. The core of a group consists of females and their young who will find the best feeding spot and eat first while the males will wait for them to finish or feed in a less desired feeding spot nearby.

When males want to show off for the females, they will rub their tails with a stinky perfume they secrete from glands in their wrists. Once soaked in their perfume, they raise their tails over their heads, point them at each other and fling the stink around to determine who makes more scent.

Males reach maturity at the age of 18 months and females at 30 months. Females are in estrous for only one day of the year and gestation lasts for 135 days after which Mom will usually give birth to one infant only. The baby clings to the female’s belly for the first two weeks after which it will switch to riding on her back. It is therefore not surprising that falling is the leading cause of death amongst infants.

Of the original 40 species of lemurs in the world, only 22 remain today, of which all are threatened. 14 Lemur species have gone extinct in recent years due to hunting and habitat destruction. With the deforestation continuing in Madagascar it is estimated that the Madagascar Ring-tailed lemur will become extinct in the wild within the next 30 years.