Crowned Lemur

By Marla Lise

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Crowned Lemur

Scientific Name: Eulemur coronatus

If you’ve seen the movie, ‘Madagascar’ – the lemur would be very familiar to you. The Crowned Lemur is found only in the forests at the very northern tip of Madagascar. They usually live in groups of up to 15 individuals. They have an amazing way of moving from one tree to another – using their long tails as balance as they jump from one tree to another, like furry ballerinas.

Crowned Lemurs are active during the day, but have also been known to come out at night. They are vegetarians and feed on fruits, leaves and flowers.

The Lemurs come from the same order as you and me! The order of the primates. Can you see some similarities between yourself and the lemur? We have the same types of thumbs – that allow us to hold on to things. Monkeys and apes share this same feature.

Crowned Lemurs can live up to 20 years and give birth to 1 live baby at a time.

Sadly, the Crowned Lemur is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List for endangered species. In 2004, surveys showed that there were only 10,000 individuals – and since then, many more have disappeared due to people cutting down their forest homes.

Next time you throw away a piece of paper or something that comes from a tree – think about the Lemur. Imagine him sitting there lonely on the ground without a tree to jump from. If we reuse, reduce, recycle and try to decrease the amount of forests that are being cut down every year, we might be able to let the Crowned Lemur dance in the forests of Madagascar for a long time.



Animal profiles

Birds
Bare-Faced Ibis
Blue and Gold Macaw
Common Potoo
Green Honeycreeper
Hoatzin
Horned Screamer
Jabiru Stork
Malachite Kingfisher
Mealy Parrot
Northern Cassowary
Scale-crested pygmy-tyrant
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Scarlet Ibis
Wattled Jacana

Mammals
Asian black bear
Black-and-white ruffed lemur
Bornean Rhino
Brown capuchin monkey
Capybara
Coquerel's Sifaka
Crowned Lemur
Kinkajou
Malayan Tapir
Margay
Mountain Gorilla
Plains Zebra not a rainforest species
Spectral Tarsier
Spider Monkey
White-lipped peccary


Reptiles
Green Basilisk
Leatherback Sea Turtle not a rainforest species
Pygmy stump-tailed chameleon
Spectacled Caiman


Amphibians
Gladiator Tree Frog
Green Poison Arrow Frog
Monkey Frog