Fun Woolly Lemur Facts For Kids
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The eastern woolly lemur belongs to the family of Strepsirrihini and is found in areas of western and eastern Madagascar. These species are nocturnal, that is they are most active during the night.
In the daytime they can mostly be found sleeping or hanging on the tress, they are mostly vertically clung or leaped to a tree. Most times you can only catch woolly lemurs on trees.
As the woolly lemurs are nocturnal, chances of them coming out on the ground seem possible mainly during the night.
These mammals stand erect with their arms up in the air holding a leap. Their lifestyle is more inclined towards arboreal and they are highly social and intelligent animals who are very similar to humans when it comes to forming long-lasting bonds.
A woolly lemur, Avahi laniger, is one of those few mammals who form lifelong bonds with their partners or social circle.
This behavior of there can also be seen in the wild, as they sleep very close to the ground, often nested together in a crowd. The sleeping hours of these mammals can be very long and that is inter-dependent on their diet.
As most of their diet consists of leaf and forest matters, it takes it long for them to digest it, hence the eastern woolly lemur, Avahi laniger, often takes long naps to digest its food.
To gather more information about such spectacular animals make sure to check out our ring-tailed lemur facts and dwarf mongoose facts pages.
Woolly Lemur Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a woolly lemur?
An eastern woolly lemur is a type of mammal, belonging to the Indriidae family and Avahi genus.
What class of animal does a woolly lemur belong to?
Eastern woolly lemurs belong to the Mammalia class. There are around eight to nine species of these mammals, all of them belonging to the same genus Avahi.
How many woolly lemurs are there in the world?
In the early 2000s, the woolly lemurs were considered to be under the conservation status of Least Concern. However, since then both western woolly and eastern woolly lemurs have been facing various threats.
Illegal logging and bushmeat hunting has been the major reason for their decline, hunters often take advantage of their open sleeping sites in the daytime and capture these mammals in groups as a result of which. Hence, since the past 10 years, their population has declined at a rate of 95%.
Today there are only of the 2000 woolly lemur, Laniger avahi, left in the world. A larger chunk of their population is found in the western region of Madagascar.
Where does a woolly lemur live?
The eastern Avahi laniger is found in very few areas. Every kind of lemur species can only be found on the islands of Madagascar.
The western woolly lemur can be found in eastern Madagascar and also towards the northeast side of Madagascar. Some of the lemurs are also found further on the southern coast of Africa. Few of the lemur species are also inhabitants in various national parks of Madagascar.
What is a woolly lemur's habitat?
A woolly lemur habitat is mainly comprised of tropical regions. Different lemur species may have separate habitat choices.
Few eastern woolly lemurs wish to stay in the dry season forests with different altitudes or elevation levels. However, in the east of Madagascar, the Avahi laniger prefers humid coastal areas which are generally at low altitudes.
Although, a standard habitat for the woolly lemur, Avahi laniger, is a moist tropical area with a low elevation near to or surrounded by montane forests. Wet tropical rainforests are their ideal choices, which are generally situated towards the eastern side of the Madagascar island, in some cases, these mammals also live towards the northern tip as well.
Who do woolly lemurs live with?
The eastern woolly lemur (Avahi laniger) animals are highly social and as woolly lemurs are nocturnal, they have neighbors with similar lifestyles. Generally, the western woolly lemur, Avahi laniger, lives in a group of four to five with other lemurs but, they also share their habitats with other animals outside of their species.
Other animals such as fossa cats and indri are common residents of Madagascar, and also neighbors to our eastern woolly lemurs.
How long does a woolly lemur live?
The lifespan of eastern woolly lemurs varies drastically depending on the habitat conditions they are in. It is been noted that this woolly lemur, Avahi laniger, can live up to as much as 10-12 years in the wild, in their natural habitat.
However, the captured eastern woolly lemurs can only survive up to three to four months, when taken out of Madagascar.
How do they reproduce?
The mating habits of eastern woolly lemurs are very interesting. The pairs mate for life and live as a family post the breeding season.
The courtship season starts anywhere between march to May and young are born between August and September. Females generally give birth to one or two babies with the gestation period lasting up to 135 days.
The young stay with their mother for a good five to six months, initially by clinging around their waist later they move up to her back. The babies generally become independent after one to two years, however, they still stay near their mother and live together as a family.
What is their conservation status?
The western woolly lemur is in grave danger of extinction and has been enduring many threats for the past 15-20 years. Slash and burn agriculture, hunting, poaching, and habitat loss remained their primary problems. Their conservation status was Vulnerable earlier, However, now it's Not Extinct.
Woolly Lemur Fun Facts
What do woolly lemurs look like?
Both the eastern woolly lemur and western woolly lemur look very similar to each other. However, the western woolly lemur is a little duller in color compared to the eastern woolly lemur.
Their body length is around 11.8-19.68 in (30-50 cm), and their body is mainly gray-brown with red hues. Their tightly curled fur is the reason why they are called woolly lemur. They have a short, owl-like head, their ears are most not visible as they are hidden underneath their dense fur.
These animals have white patches on the back of their things and long soft furry orange tails. The fur color can be variable depending on the species and the location where they reside.
*We've been unable to source an image of a woolly lemur and have used an image of a lemur instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of a woolly lemur, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at hello@kidadl.com.How cute are they?
The eastern woolly lemur is very adorable, it spends most of its time sleeping and has a very little activity span, except for when it is eating. However, it can be a very nice experience to watch these woolly lemurs, Avahi laniger, function in their natural state.
How do they communicate?
Communication among eastern woolly lemurs is very similar to that of humans. They use various communication channels to understand one another most of them are visual, tactile, and acoustic. Although, the eastern wooly lemur also communicates with its family either through gestures, touch, or body postures. Communication through sound refers to their high-pitched calls.
How big is a woolly lemur?
When compared with most species that live in Madagascar, this tightly curled fur mammal is not very huge in size. A coquerel's sifaka is around four times bigger in size when compared to an eastern woolly lemur. This species is slightly bigger than tenrecs.
How fast can a woolly lemur move?
The eastern woolly lemurs move slowly on the ground but with considerable speed on trees.
How much does a woolly lemur weigh?
Eastern woolly lemurs weigh around 1.3-2.64 lb (0.6-1.2 kg).
What are the male and female names of the species?
Both the sexes of this family are addressed with a similar name.
What would you call a baby woolly lemur?
The baby eastern woolly lemurs are called infants.
What do they eat?
The diet consists mainly of leaves, fruits, flowers, and buds.
Are they dangerous?
No, they are not dangerous to humans.
Would they make a good pet?
No, an eastern woolly lemur doesn't do very well outside of its natural habitat. They generally die within two to three months, so it's not advised to bring them home.
Did you know...
Their genus name Avahi laniger refers to their high-pitched calls. Their calls are often very loud and are made to alarm others.
How many babies do woolly lemurs have?
This species generally have one to two babies.
How many kinds of lemurs are there?
Most lemurs can be found on Madagascar island. There are various kinds of lemurs on the island of Madagascar, some of them are the mouse lemur, ring-tailed lemur, and Indriidae.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other mammals from our small Indian mongoose facts and aye-aye fact pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable woolly lemur coloring pages.
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