Wild Lemur Behavior

I started my project by doing some research on wild lemurs, and their behavior. I found out that at the present time there is a group in Madagascar, origin place of the lemur, that is observing captive-bred released lemurs from the Duke Primate Center. I got a lot of information from the Duke Primate Center since most of their primates are a form of lemur. Although I mainly got information from the Internet, I did find one book that, although didn't discuss the behavior of the Black-and-White Ruffed lemur, described the behavior of three other varieties of lemur. I also received some e-mail from Andrea Katz, one of the directors of the Madagascar/Duke University reintroduction project.(See Bibliography)

Black-and-White lemurs live in the rain forests of Madagascar, an island off the coast of Africa. The Black-and-White lemur is the largest of all the lemurs. They are approximately 22 inches long, and weigh from 7 to 10 lbs. They have black and white markings on their face and body. These markings vary in placement from troop to troop. They have acute binocular vision and excellent hearing. They have long silky fur, except around their face where the fur is very short. They have a long fox-like snout, and tuffs of fur around their faces. In the wild they eat mainly fruit, leaves, nectar, seeds and sometimes soil. In the zoo they eat greens, some fruit and vegetable matter, high-fiber monkey biscuits, and Zupreem primate diet. They usually live for 19-20 yrs. in captivity, but in the wild they will only live for 15-20 yrs. They are critically endangered due to hunting both for their meat and fur, and because of habitat destruction.

Lemurs reach sexual maturity between eighteen months and two years of age. Most females within the troop go into estrus during a 24 to 48 hour period, between May and July. During this time the male of the troop must impregnate all of the members of the troop or else it will be another entire year before the chance arises again. The gestation period last between 90-102 days, and each female lemur has a litter of up to six, but most commonly three babies. Lemurs are the only primates to have litters. They also do not carry their offspring on their stomachs or backs, but rather leave their litters in nests of leaves.

Black-and-white ruffed lemurs have a matriarchal social order, which means the females are dominant over the males. This is why the zoo's two females are in separate cages, as they will fight for dominance if placed together. Each troop is generally constructed of one adult female, one adult male, and their children, however some troops have been known to contain more that one adult female. Males generally leave the troop at sexually maturity, where females either fight for dominance, stay as a non-dominate member, or leave to start their own troop. Social bonding is strengthened through mutual grooming. Since Black-and-White Lemurs generally don't have opposable thumbs like other primates, they use their lower front teeth, which are horizontal and comb-like. They also have large toilet claws on each of their hind feet. The lemurs in the zoo probably don't have the same kind of social bonds as wild lemurs, since they are live alone and only experience mutual grooming from their keepers.

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