Ring-tailed lemur

Monkeys and lemurs

With its distinctive black and white striped tail, the ring-tailed lemur, or cat lemur as it is also known, is probably the best known of the lemurs. It is also the lemur that spends most of its time on the ground, living in large groups with as many females as males, with the females in charge.
They use their tails but also many different sounds to communicate, which has given them the name cat lemur as they can purr like a cat. Ring-tailed lemurs are often seen sitting in a yoga-like tailor's pose, sunbathing their bellies together, and when they sleep they often tuck their snouts between their hind legs and lay their long tails on their backs.

The name lemur comes from the Latin name for ghost or spirit. There are more than 20 species of what we call lemurs, but the lemur family includes more than 100 different species. The number of known species in the family has doubled in the last 25 years. Today, about 90% of the species in the lemur family are threatened with extinction and the biggest threat is deforestation and illegal hunting. Although the ring-tailed lemur is highly adaptable and can live in many different habitats and eat different types of food, their numbers are declining due to the fragmentation of Madagascar's pristine nature. They are also hunted for meat and captured and sold as pets.

The zoo participates in the European Breeding Programme (EEP), which aims to conserve the species.

CITES A

In situ - conservation in place

Conserving endangered species, and preventing them from becoming extinct, requires efforts at several points in the chain. In the zoo, we can contribute with breeding and research to create a gene bank, while learning more about the species' behaviours and needs. Conservation work in zoos is called ex-situ, which means that the work is carried out outside the species' home range. Conservation measures are also taken in-situ, i.e. in the area where the species lives or has lived in the past.