Ring-tailed Lemur

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Young Explorer Notes

Three quick things to know about the Ring-tailed Lemur.

Superpower
The most terrestrial of all lemurs — ring-tails spend roughly a third of their time on the ground, which makes them t…
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Lush trees and vines where primates swing and play.
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Fun facts for everyone

The most terrestrial of all lemurs — ring-tails spend roughly a third of their time on the ground, which makes them the easiest lemur to feature in the deck's "Lemur Island" walkthrough habitat.
Female-led society — every ring-tailed troop is dominated by an adult female, and females stay in the natal group for life while males disperse, a reversal of most primate societies.
The famous black-and-white banded tail is held vertical as a "flag" during troop travel, helping keep loose-knit groups visually connected through dappled forest.
Males engage in "stink fights" — they rub wrist and shoulder glands across their tails, then wave the scented tail at rivals from a safe distance.
Restricted entirely to southwest Madagascar, the species has lost more than 95% of its habitat to slash-and-burn agriculture and charcoal burning — the IUCN listed it as Endangered in 2020.

From the master plan

Lemur Island is the only walkthrough habitat in Primate Forest — a moated open enclosure where guests share a path with a free-ranging troop of ring-tailed lemurs. The lemurs use the tall sun-bathing rocks at the centre of the island for their characteristic morning meditation pose.

IUCN status sourced from the Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) assessment (LaFleur et al., 2020) on the IUCN Red List — listed as Endangered with a continuing population decline.