Crowned lemur

Summary

We currently care for a group of six crowned lemurs; Tiako (a female, aptly named after the Malagasy word ‘to love’) and a male called Loko, as well as their offspring: Sambatra who was born in 2015, the twins Teboka and Aloka who were born in 2016, and the new baby born in May 2017.

Crowned lemurs are endangered primates (mammals) from Madagascar. Chestnut-brown in colour, the crowned lemur gets its name from the distinct ‘crown’ fur pattern on the top of its head which is a clearly defined orange-brown shade.

Our crowned lemurs are active during the day and can be seen leaping and swinging in Monkey Jungle and the Lemur Walkthrough (closed during winter months). 

Dietary

Crowned lemurs are vegetarians - our lemurs eat a diet of mostly flowers, vegetables, and leaves.

Crowned lemurs' mostly fruit based diet means they play a crucial role in seed dispersal and their nectar feeding habits aid in pollination in the forests of northern Madagascar.

Habitat

The only place crowned lemurs can be found is in the dry forests of northern Madagascar. Their preferred habitat is primary dry and semi-dry deciduous forest, although they can also be found in humid forests.

Conservation

Crowned lemurs are classified as Endangered in Madagascar, with the population ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 and they all live in one area, making them particularly susceptible to extinction risks.  The main threat facing crowned lemurs in the wild is habitat loss, due to logging, agriculture and forest fires.

In the meantime, zoos are successfully breeding this species to ensure that a population is maintained in human care. We are part of a breeding programme for crowned lemurs, to help conserve this endangered species.

IUCN Red List species link

Did you know...

Our crowned lemurs share the Lemur Walk Through with a large group of ring-tailed lemurs. Even though they are almost twice as many ring-tailed lemurs, our crowned lemurs are the more dominant group and happily steal food off the ring-tailed lemurs!

Where to find us at Bristol Zoo

You can find our crowned lemurs inside Monkey Jungle and the Lemur Walkthrough