New home for rare lemurs
Ruffed lemur facts
It’s a family affair in the lemur enclosure at Tahunanui’s Natureland with three black-andwhite ruffed lemur brothers settling in.
Natureland Wildlife Trust director Meg Rutledge said the new additions, Ngaly, Mafy, and Natoky, were bred at Hamilton Zoo.
They all came from the same litter, and were flown to Nelson in mid-December.
‘‘There are two species of ruffed lemur and they’re the only lemur that has litters of young,’’ she said.
Other species of primate tended to carry their young on their backs.
Lemurs are endemic to the African island of Madagascar.
‘‘Critically endangered, black and white ruffed lemurs are arboreal rainforest lemurs who will love the summer heat in Nelson,’’ Rutledge said.
Previously, Natureland had ring-tailed lemurs but they had been sent to Australia to be part of a breeding programme, and the new ruffed lemurs had moved into their enclosure.
‘‘It’s actually a bit better suited to this species because they’re quite arboreal.
‘‘Ring-taileds like to spend a lot more time on the ground, but for these guys it’s great because it’s much more set up for the arboreal and off the ground, especially with the high-point.’’
Arboreal species spend most of their time in trees, climbing and moving from branch to branch.
Rutledge said having ruffed lemurs at the zoo was an import- ant part of Natureland’s conservation focus.
‘‘Nearly endangered.
‘‘Madagascar is one of the worlds most impoverished nations and has few resources to devote to their rich and unique biodiversity.
‘‘Black-and-white ruffed lemurs are one of the most threatened, as their habitats are some of the most pressured areas of the country,’’ she said.
Visitors were already enjoying the new arrivals, observing them as they played in the trees and, if all lemurs are they were lucky, hearing their earsplitting calls.
‘‘What’s really interesting and unique is that their call, which is quite loud, isn’t a territory or defence call, it’s more of a communication call and they just do it throughout the day.
‘‘I love the noise because it’s extraordinary how far it can travel.
‘‘It’s made to go through a dense forest.’’
Rutledge said the lemurs would do the call three to four times a day, but when they did it certainly would attract attention and could be heard more than a kilometre away.
Whenever Natureland had new species arrive it tended to draw curious visitors.
Rutledge thought the ruffed lemurs would encourage people to visit over the summer.
‘‘Last year when the ringtaileds came we got a lot of people who came to see them so hopefully people will come in to see these guys too.
‘‘They’re quite a bit larger than the ring taileds.’’