Western Woolly Lemur | |
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Information | |
Common Name | Western Avahi |
Range | western Madagascar |
Scientific Classification | |
Kingdom | Animalia |
Phylum | Chordata |
Class | Mammalia |
Order | Primates |
Family | Indriidae |
Genus | Avahi |
Species | Avahi occidentalis |
Conservation Status | |
Endangered |
The Western woolly lemur (Avahi occidentalis), also known as the Western avahi, is a species of woolly lemur native to western Madagascar, where they live in dry deciduous forests. These nocturnal animals weigh 0.7-0.9 kg. It is a folivorous animal
The western woolly lemurs live in monogamous pairs together with their offspring.
Ecology[]
The Western woolly lemur mostly consumes leaves and buds that derive from around 20 different plants which have not matured and have high levels of sugars and proteins. The food is typically consumed within the time frame of two hours before dawn and two hours after dusk, in which the lemurs consume their food at the tops of trees ranging between 2 and 9 metres. During food time lemurs typically settle on thinner branches unless the tree itself is too small to support the animal's weight. Most likely due to the lemur's folivorous diet, Western woolly lemurs spend large amounts of time resting in order to conserve energy.
Taxonomy[]
According to Tholmann and Geissmann (2000) there are three distinct forms of the Western Woolly Lemur: Bemaraha, Avahi Occidentalis, and Avahi Unicolor.
Conservation[]
Because the Avahi as a species is highly selective in their folivorous diet, depending on plants with specific characteristics, it is hard to keep Avahi in captivity. Therefore, one of the primary and most general ways of conserving the species is to conserve the forests in which Avahi are currently found.