Habitat
Dry, secondary
and primary forests of western and southern Madagascar |
Length
and Weight
Head and body length of about
8 inches (20 cm)
Tail length of about 8 inches (20 cm)
Weight varies seasonally, ranging from about 5 ounces (142 g) in November at
the beginning of the rainy season, to 7.6 ounces (217 g) in March when the rains
end |
Life
Span
Unknown in the wild; 16-17 years in zoos |
Diet
In the wild: Fruit, flowers, nectar, pollen,
insects and aphid secretions
At the zoo: Chopped
fruit and vegetables, monkey chow, crickets, sap and flowers,
crickets, mealworms and moths. |
Reproduction
Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs become sexually mature at 1 year. Mating occurs
in November, births in January. The gestation period is 61-64 days,
with litter size ranging from one to four, but twins are the most
common.
Lemurs (Ghosts of
Madagascar)
The word lemur means ghost. Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs, being
nocturnal, are deserving of the name. They emerge soon after sunset
and return to nest at dawn. Their activity is not evenly distributed
throughout the night. Activity peaks during the first and final third
of the night with a sharp decrease around midnight. During the rainy
season (November through March) fat-tailed dwarf lemurs are very active,
eating the plentiful food supply, mating and producing young. During
the dry season, however, these lemurs avoid the seasonal shortage of
food by becoming torpid, and holing up alone or in groups of up to
five individuals in hollow tree trunks. Fat stored in the tail during
the rainy season serves as an energy resource during dormancy.
Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs are among the smallest of the Madagascan primates.
They spend virtually all their time in the trees. These small, nocturnal lemurs,
as well as most other lemurs, possess a reflecting tapetum behind the retina
of each eye, which assist vision in dim light. It is light reflecting off the
tapetum that produces the “"eye-shine" typically found in animals
active at night.
Female fat-tailed dwarf lemurs are dominant over males. While foraging, they
are constantly in vocal contact with each other. The male regularly scent marks
the female with his throat gland.
|
Fascinating
Facts
- During
the rainy season, the volume of the fat-tailed dwarf lemur's
tail triples, from an average of .92 cubic inches (15 cc)
in November to an average of 2.56 cubic inches (42 cc) in
May!
- Like most prosimians,
the fat-tailed dwarf lemur has a tooth-comb in its lower
jaw which it uses for grooming!
- Since the arrival
of humans on Madagascar, at least 14 species of lemur have
become extinct!
|
Fat-tailed
dwarf lemurs are located in the Night Exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo.
They share an exhibit with the Madagascar hedgehog tenrecl. After
the zoo closes each day, the light in the Night Exhibit is gradually
brought up to an artificial "day" lasting between 10
and 14 hours. It is during this "day" that these nocturnal
lemurs sleep. They become active during the zoo visitor's day
as their "night" begins
when the lights are gradually dimmed to simulate dusk, then darkness.
All lemurs, including the
fat-tailed dwarf lemur, are endangered species.* Habitat destruction
and being hunted for food are the primary causes of endangerment.
Because the fat-tailed dwarf lemur has a large geographic range and
is hard to hunt due to its small size, nocturnal life-style and six-month
dormancy, it is one of the least endangered of the Malagasy lemurs.
Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs occur in a number of protected areas in Madagascar.
A 1992 population estimate of this species was fewer than 100,000.
Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs breed well in captivity. Over 160 individuals are currently
held by at least two dozen zoos worldwide. Woodland Park Zoo participates in
the Association of Zoos & Aquariums' (AZA) Prosimian Taxon Advisory Group
(TAG) and currently has four male fat-tailed dwarf lemurs. It is very important
for zoos to have non-breeding groups like ours to act as a support for facilities
that are breeding lemurs or as a holding facility until breeding is needed in
the future. Information obtained by managing more common species will benefit
future programs involving more critically endangered species. The zoo participates
in the Malagasy Fauna Interest Group (FIG).
How You
Can Help!
The effort to save endangered species requires cooperation and support at the
international, national, regional and individual levels. You can help in this
cause. Join and become active in Woodland Park Zoo and other conservation organizations
of your choice. Please do not buy products made from wild animal parts or support
keeping wild species as pets.
Contact Woodland Park Zoo at webkeeper@zoo.org to find out about
ways you can support conservation efforts at the zoo. Learn other ways you
can help conserve wildlife and the habitats they require for survival by visiting our How You Can Help page.
Sources
and Suggested Reading
Harcourt, Caroline. 1990. Lemurs of Madagascar and the Comoros: The IUCN
Red Data Book. Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge,
U.K. and Gland, Switzerland. 240 p.
Macdonald, David, ed. 1993. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Facts on File, Inc.,
New York. 895 p.
Mittermeier, Russell A., Ian Tattersall, William R. Konstant, David M. Meyers & Roderic
B. Mast. 1994. Lemurs of Madagascar. Conservation International, Washington,
DC. 356 p.
Nowak, Ronald M. 1983. Walker's Mammals of the World. 4th Edition. Vol.
1. The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 568 p.
Rowe, Noel. 1996. The Pictorial Guide to the Living Primates. Pogonias Press,
East Hampton, New York, NY. 263 p.
Tattersall, Ian. 1982. The Primates of Madagascar. Columbia University Press,
New York. 382 p.
* Woodland
Park Zoo identifies an animal or plant endangered if it is listed
as endangered (in any part
of its range) on the federal list of Endangered and Threatened
Wildlife and Plants, or if it is listed on Appendix I to the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). |
Classification
and Range
