Animal Directory Featured species in the planned Primate Forest habitat
Ring-tailed Lemur
Lemur catta
EN
Fun facts
- 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.
Find them in
Zone 04
Primate Forest
A lush forest realm where intelligence, connection, and curiosity thrive
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