Ring Tailed Lemur
Ring-Tailed Lemur Natural History
Diet
Ring tailed lemurs are omnivorous, but easily mistaken as herbivores. They eats a lot of fruits, leaves, flowers, herbs, bark, sap, and sometimes arthropods like spiders and insects. Leaves and fruit from the tamarind tree makes up 50% of their diet, so it is important to them.
Habitat
Ring- tailed lemurs are native to southern and southwestern Madagascar. They live in deciduous forests, shrubland, and they can best handle temperatures from 10 degrees to 118 degrees. Most of their time is spent in the trees, since they are such an important food source. Horizontal branches are preferred, so they can rest comfortably.
Range
They can be found in forests and National Parks in Madagascar. Although they breed well in captivity, they are endangered in the wild. There are less than 2,400 of this species left in the wild, so it is important that we try to spread their range and conserve them.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name: Lemur Catta
- Genus: Lemur
- Class: Mammalia
- Family: Lemuridae
- Order: Primates
Breeding
Sexual maturity of ring tailed lemurs is reached anywhere from 2.5 to 3 years of age. The breeding season begins in April and ends in May. Males must compete for female by swatting, jump fighting, or stink fighting. These are all ways that males fight for a female. The gestation period is 5 months, and the female gives birth to 1 baby, sometimes twins. Babies hold tight to their mothers when they’re first born, and after 2 weeks they are carried on her back. Females tend to stay with their families, while males migrate to other groups.
Interesting Behaviors
They live in groups knows as “troops” with anywhere from 6-30 lemurs. These groups are ruled by the females, who take care of their young. To keep warm, they sunbathe together, and at night they split into parties and huddle close together.
Active: alert, sniffing, self grooming, using enrichment
Locomotion: moving to a different space by climbing, swinging, running, walking
Feeding: foraging, eating, drinking, picking up food
Resting: sleeping, sitting, lying down
Social: interacting with others, grooming others, chasing
Research Question
Which enrichment would best promote the ring tailed lemurs wild behaviors?
Goal
The goal of this enrichment plan is to allow the lemurs to become more active, and for them to participate in behaviors that they usually use in the wild.
Hypothesis
If this enrichment were to be placed with the lemurs, my hypothesis would be that they would adjust to it with some training. I think they would be surprised and confused for a few hours, and then eventually ignore it until further training.
Enrichment Plan
For any animal, daily enrichment is an essential part of animal welfare to keep the animal curious, and to keep them mentally stimulated. Lemurs are very intelligent animals, and because of this, they can get easily bored. Enrichment can include introducing new smells, puzzle boxes, or sights. A goal of this enrichment plan is to promote the lemurs wild behaviors.
My enrichment idea is to use hula hoops or rings attached to ropes, hung from branches of a tree. The lemur could swing from hoop to hoop, kind of like monkey bars.
Works Cited
“Ring-Tailed Lemur.” Smithsonian's National Zoo, 3 Oct. 2019, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/ring-tailed-lemur
“Page: Tree of Life Ring-Tailed Lemur: Lemur Catta.” Ring-Tailed Lemur, tolweb.org/treehouses/?treehouse_id=4730.
“Playtime for Lemurs: The Value of Enrichment.” Duke Lemur Center, 21 Dec. 2018, lemur.duke.edu/value-of-enrichment/.