Indri

True Wild Life | Indri | The Indri is a large species of lemur found only on the secluded island of Madagascar. The Indri evolved in the same way as every other lemur, from smaller individuals that came to the island from Africa around 50 million years ago. Due to the fact that there were no other primates to compete with, lemurs soon adapted to live in a variety of habitats, producing a diverse range of different species. Locally, the Indri is known as the babakoto which means little father or ancestor of man. As the native people believe that the Indri (with it's lack of visible tail) resembles their ancestors, their is a certain taboo over consuming it, meaning that the Indri does receive some protection in parts of their native environments.

Like all lemurs, the Indri is found only on the island of Madagascar in lowland jungle and tropical forests. Lemurs are arboreal animals meaning that they spend the majority of their lives, eating, sleeping and mating high up in the trees. Today, the Indri however is only found in small pockets of protected forest in Eastern Madagascar, due to increased levels of logging and the clearing of land for agriculture across the island. Although actual figures are unknown there are thought to be less than 10,000 Indri left in Madagascar, meaning that the species is under severe threat in it's natural environment.

The Indri is a sociable animal, living in small family units of between 2 - 6 individuals, that consist of a male and female pair with their young. Lemurs are unique among primates as it is the females who are the dominant ones, meaning that they get to feed first while the males defend their territory. Indri's communicate through a series of eerie wailing calls both to unite families and also to mark their territory, that can be heard up to 2km away. They also urinate along borders to mark out their patch. One of the most noticeable differences between lemurs and monkeys is their dog-like snout which gives all lemurs an excellent sense of smell so they are able to sniff out these markings with ease and avoid confrontation.

The Indri is a herbivorous animal, unlike many other primates that will munch on almost everything in sight. Indris are diurnal animals meaning that they are most active during the day and this is when they hunt for food, both in the trees and on the ground. Females get first pickings and are often found foraging for very new leaves. Young leaves make up the majority of the Indri's diet along with fruits, seeds and flowers, which are easily picked up with their nimble fingers. Indris are known to eat a wide variety of plant matter although it is thought that they predominantly eat vegetation that comes from the trees.

Living high up in the trees means that the Indri is safe from many ground-dwelling predators, however, there are a number of animals that have no problem getting up to the Indri's height. The native cat-like fossa is the main predator of the Indri and is an incredibly agile and primarily tree-dwelling mammal that has evolved to catch one thing, lemurs. Other predators of the Indri include large birds of prey such as hawks, and reptiles including snakes, all of which the Indri are thought have to have different danger signals for. One of the largest threats to Madagascar's Indri populations however is habitat loss, as hundreds acres of natural jungle are being cleared every day.

The Indri is the largest existent lemur today and, like other lemurs, is most closely related to more primitive primates including bushbabies, pottos and lorises. Despite the fact that there are nearly 100 species of lemur and their sub-species found today, the Indri is the only remaining species in it's genus. Before the island was ravaged by deforestation, it is thought that a different population of Indri occupied nearly every ridge in the eastern forests of Madagascar. The colour of the Indri differs between populations, with individuals further south thought to have more patches of white, while those in the more northern areas tend to be darker.

Although the exact number of Indri inhabiting Madagascar today is unknown, there are thought to only be up to 10,000 individuals left in the wild. Other estimates are more concerning claiming that there may be as few as 1,000 Indri remaining, but they are now protected with the listing as an endangered species. One of the biggest worries to science is that the Indri does not do well in captivity meaning that captive breeding programs to try and rehabilitate the dying populations are likely to be unsuccessful.

Grey Mouse Lemur

True Wild Life | Grey Mouse Lemur | The grey mouse lemur is one of the world's smallest primates, and one of the smallest lemurs on the island of Madagascar. The grey mouse lemur was named after it's size and appearance that resembles that of a mouse (in a similar way to the other mouse lemur species). Although threatened, the grey mouse lemur is considered to be one of the most abundant primates on the island. Like all other lemur species, the grey mouse lemur is native to, and found only on, the island of Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa. Grey mouse lemurs inhabit native tropical woodlands and forests where they spend the majority of their lives nesting in the trees. Grey mouse lemurs are usually found perching on thin branches and occupy ranges of up to 5 acres in size.

The grey mouse lemur is the largest species of mouse lemur found in the forests of Madagascar growing to lengths of nearly 30cm. However, the grey mouse lemur is still smaller than the pygmy marmoset which is the world's smallest species of monkey and is found inhabiting the tropical jungles of South America. In the same way to the island's other species of lemur, the grey mouse lemur is a generally nocturnal animal, spending it's days resting in the safety of the trees. Grey mouse lemurs emerge after dark when they are able to forage in the surrounding forest for food, and are not quite so easy for hungry predators to detect. The large eyes of the grey mouse lemur mean that it can see more easily under the cover of night.

The grey mouse lemur is an omnivorous animal, eating almost anything that it can find. Grey mouse lemurs primarily hunt and feed on insects both in the trees and on the ground. Fruits, nuts, berries, shoots and the occasional passing rodent, make up the rest of the grey mouse lemur's diet. Grey mouse lemurs usually hunt alone but spend their days resting in the trees with a number of other grey mouse lemurs. Due to their small size, grey mouse lemurs can often be hard to spot in the dense forest but they are still successfully hunted by a number of Madagascan predators including birds of prey such as eagles and owls, various snakes and of course, the fossa, which is an animal that has evolved to hunt and eat lemurs in the forest.

The night-dwelling nature of this tiny primate means that there is limited information on more complex behaviours of the grey mouse lemur including how it reproduces. Grey mouse lemurs breed during September and October, when after a gestation period of roughly 2 months, 2 or 3 young are born. The baby grey mouse lemurs are cared for by their mother until they are big enough to become independent. Today, although one of the most common primates on Madagascar, the grey mouse lemur is considered to be a threatened species mainly due to habitat loss caused by drastic deforestation across the island. A number of Madagascar's native trees however, have recently been listed by the IUCN hopefully meaning a decrease in the deforestation of natural woodlands there.

Aye Aye

True Wild Life | Aye Aye | The aye aye is a subspecies of lemur found on the south eastern African island of Madagascar. The aye aye are the biggest nocturnal primates in the world with some aye aye weighing more than 3kg! The aye aye is also one of the few solitary species of primate and therefore hunts alone for grubs and insects.

The aye aye has rodent-like teeth and a long, thin middle finger that fills the same ecological niche as a woodpecker. The aye aye taps on trees to find grubs, then gnaws holes in the wood and inserts its long middle finger into the hole to pull the grubs out. The aye aye is considered to be a near threatened species, possibly even endangered with very few aye aye left in the wild . The second subspecies of aye aye is thought to have become extinct at some point in the past 1,000 years.

The aye aye inhabits the forested and jungle areas of the east side of Madagascar, but the aye aye is also commonly found in bamboo thickets and are occasionally found hunting on the ground.

The adult aye aye has black or dark brown fur covered by white guard hairs on the neck of the aye aye. The aye aye's tail is bushy and shaped similar to the tail of a squirrel. The aye aye is also thought to have a rodent like face that is similar in shape to the face of a raccoon. The aye aye also has big, bright, beady, luminous eyes that help the aye aye to see better in the dark. The aye aye has very large teeth that grow continuously throughout the aye aye's lifespan.

The aye aye's rodent like features contrasted with the aye aye's monkey like body are probably the reason why scientists originally classed the aye aye as a rodent and then re-classed the aye aye as a primate after further studies.

Aye Aye Foot Facts

• The aye aye has large feet in comparison to their body which the aye aye uses to hang itself from tree branches whilst foraging for food.

• The aye aye medium length fingers that have claws on the ends of them that help the aye aye to grip onto branches when its hanging on the trees.

• The aye aye has an extra long and specially adapted middle finger on each hand which has a nail on the end, which the aye aye uses to remove grubs from rotting wood.

• The movement of the aye ayes long middle finger is independent from the other fingers and means that the aye aye is even able to use this finger to drink liquids by moving it quickly between the liquid and the mouth of the aye aye.

• The aye aye moves by walking on all four feet and is able to walk and climb well and is extremely adept at leaping between branches in the trees.

Aye Aye Teeth Facts

• The aye aye uses its sharp front teeth to tear into wood before using the special middle finger to dig the grubs out from beneath.

• The aye aye has sharp incisor teeth at the front of its mouth that grow continuously so that they never wear down.

• The sharp front teeth of the aye aye must be ground down all the time to prevent them from getting too big and the aye aye does this by gnawing on nearly everything it finds.

• The aye aye uses the long middle finger to tap all the way along a tree branch until it hears what it is looking for and then uses the chisel-like teeth to bite a hole in the wood.

• The aye aye is thought to have 25 teeth including the sharp front incisors and the sets of molars that the aye aye uses to chew the food before it eats it.

Lemur

True Wild Life | Lemur | The lemurs is a primate native to the island of Madagascar, a large island off the south east coast of Africa. There are approximately 10 different species of lemur inhabiting the island where the lemurs spend most of their time in the trees. Lemurs are best known for their large, round reflective eyes and their wailing screams. Lemurs also have furry, pointed ears and long tails, with lemurs often being compared to both monkeys and squirrels. The lemur will eat most small things from berries, nuts and leaves to insects and spiders and therefore the lemur has an omnivorous diet. Lemurs get most of their food from the surrounding trees but lemurs will occasionally forage for grub on the forest floor if they have no luck in the branches.

The black and white ruffed lemur, the russet mouse lemur, the woolly lemur, the aye aye and the ring tail lemur are among the most common species of lemur found in Madagascar, although the Aye Aye is considered to be a species of lemur very different from the rest, mainly due to the long middle fingers of the aye aye which it uses to get food out of holes. There are four main types of lemur containing nearly 100 different lemur subspecies between them. The biggest threat to the lemur is deforestation, with around 90% of the Madagascan jungle having been destroyed. This means that the lemur populations are declining rapidly as the lemur has fewer trees to make its home in.

The apex predator of Madagascar, the fossa, is also a big threat to the lemur, as lemurs are one of the favourite meals of a fossa. The lemur has fast reactions and is very agile which allows it to try to escape the fossa, but the fossa is a very stubborn and lightening quick animal, so the lemur generally becomes dinner. The most commonly known species of lemur is the ring-tailed lemur. with this lemur being very distinctive by the black and white ring markings on the lemurs tail. The ring-tailed lemur has a grey coloured fur and white tufts on its ears. Lemurs are small-medium sized primates with adult lemurs growing to a maximum of around 70 cm tall (plus their long tail which is often nearly as long as the body of the lemur). Lemurs also have sharp claws on their feet which enable the lemur to hold onto tree branches, particularly useful when the lemur is trying to escape from a hungry fossa!

Lemurs are one of the few animals that live in a matriarchal society, which means that the female lemurs have more control over the group than the male lemurs. These lemur groups however, behave in a very similar way to other primates as they feed and groom each other, as well as sleeping close to one another. It is not known why lemurs exhibit this rare form of social structure.