Camera Critters: Crowned Lemur

I had a lovely time at the zoo's Spring Fling despite the cloudy weather.

It didn't really rain -- it spitted. 

The primates were the featured species that morning.

I love visiting the lemurs.

They are always entertaining!

Mrs. Lemur

"There's the crazy woman with the camera .... again."

"Quick -- turn your back."

"Maybe she'll go away."

Mr. Lemur

The crowned lemur is found in  the dry deciduous forests of northern Madagascar. Its diet is made up mostly of flowers, fruits and leaves. It is a medium-sized lemur with a distinctive chestnut-orange crown pattern on their head. They have pseudo-opposable thumbs, binocular vision, are highly intelligent and are on the endangered threatened list. The forests in Madagascar are being destroyed by mining, farming and some lemurs are killed for food or kept as pets. 

Thank you to Misty for hosting Camera Critters for 5 years!

Wishing YOU well and much joy!

Happy Easter!

Camera Critters

Misty is the hostess for Camera Critters.
Be sure you drop by to visit.

A couple of shots of a ring tailed lemur at the Houston Zoo.

Lemurs are primates found only on the African island of Madagascar and some tiny neighboring islands. Madagascar is home to many amazing animals found nowhere else on Earth. The Ring-tailed lemur, Lemur catta, is one of twenty-two species of lemurs. They share a common ancestry with Africa's monkeys and apes, but were isolated from those species probably 50 million years ago when Madagascar separated from the African continent.

The word Lemur comes from old Latin, and refers to ghosts or spirits. The staring eyes, haunting sounds, and nocturnal ways of the lemur inspired early observers to think of them as ghosts or forest spirits.

Ring-tailed lemurs are unmistakable because of their long, vividly striped, black-and-white tail. They are familiar residents of many zoos.

Lemurs use their hands and feet to move nimbly through the trees, but cannot grip with their tails as some of their primate cousins do. Ring-tailed lemurs also spend a lot of time on the ground, which is unusual among lemur species. They forage for fruit, which makes up the greater part of their diet, but also eat leaves, flowers, tree bark, and sap.

Ring-tailed lemurs have powerful scent glands and use their unique odor as a communication tool and even as a kind of weapon. Lemurs mark their territory by scent, serving notice of their presence to all who can smell. During mating season, male lemurs battle for dominance by trying to out stink each other. They cover their long tails with smelly secretions and wave them in the air to determine which animal is more powerful.

Ring-tailed lemurs live in groups known as troops. These groups may include 6 to 30 animals, but average about 17. Both sexes live in troops, but a dominant female presides over all.

Ring-tailed lemurs are endangered, largely because the sparse, dry forests they love are quickly vanishing.

Happy Saturday!
Joy to You!

Camera Critters

It's Saturday and it's Camera Critters time!

Off to the Houston Zoo again
and a visit to one of my favorite lemurs
and one of the Zoo's newest:
the Coquerel Sifaka.




The Houston Zoo is one of only a handful of places in the world where you can see this highly endangered primate from Madagascar, made famous by the PBS television series Zoboomafoo, featuring the Kratt brothers and their Coquerel's sifaka, (cock-er-al's she-fak) mascot.

Sifaka differ from other lemurs in the way they move, using a form of locomotion called vertical clinging and leaping. They leap in an upright position from one vertical branch or trunk to another, using their powerful back legs to propel them over twenty feet in one jump. When they move on the ground, they skip or bound on their hind legs. They look like they are jumping with a pogo stick (remember those?)!

Sifakas are plant-eaters. Leaves are their favorite food, and make up most of their diet in the dry season (along with tree bark). In the wet season these primates also eat fruits and flowers. They find much of their food in the treetops, but also occasionally search for food on the ground.
When eating, sifakas rarely use their hands to handle their meal. Instead, they usually grab the food directly with their mouth. The Houston Zoo's sifakas have a favorite treat -- the chickpea or garbanzo bean. They love them.

Like many other types of sifaka, the Coquerel's sifaka is in danger of extinction in the wild. These animals suffer from continued habitat loss, as their forest homes are logged for timber and turned into farmland.

Here's a video from You Tube and the Houston Zoo: