Habitat/Conservation
Coquerel's dwarf lemurs are discontinuously distributed along the west coast of Madagascar, mostly in dry deciduous forests. There is a gap of nearly 600 km between the two major sections of this lemur's range, and it has been suggested that each segment might contain a different subspecies of this lemur. Another undocumented population of the species might also occur between these two major habitats. Within the dry forests of western Madagascar, Coquerel's dwarf lemurs are generally found along rivers and semi-permanent ponds, where the forest is thicker and slightly taller than in the drier areas.
The conservation status of the Coquerel's dwarf lemur in Madagascar is difficult to assess at this time. It seems adaptable and can survive, perhaps even thrive, in secondary forest. It is found in three reserves, Bemaraha Nature Reserve, Andranomena Special Reserve and the private reserve of Analabe, and in some areas it might exist in fairly high densities. However, the western dry forest of Madagascar is becoming increasingly fragmented, so it must be assumed that populations of Coquerel's dwarf lemurs are on the decline.
Coquerel's dwarf lemurs were first imported to the U.S. in August, 1982, when three pairs captured on the northwest coast of Madagascar in the sub-province of Ambanja, arrived at the DLC. The pairs bred well, and by February, 1985 the colony had increased to 22 animals. By February 1989 there were 45 Coquerel's dwarf lemurs at the DLC --all descendents of the six founders! The DLC began sending out animals to other institutions in the late 1980s. By 1993 offspring of the original six could be found at 12 institutions (two in Europe). An SSP (Species Survival Plan) for the species was established in the mid 1990s.
However, by June, 2002 no successful reproduction had occurred in any captive Coquerel's dwarf lemur for the previous five years. A decision was made by the Species Survival Plan Coordinator for this species to make a last-ditch effort to initiate breeding. Based on the fact that Coquerel's dwarf lemurs in the wild have periodic contact with conspecifics, while animals in zoos never do, the decision was made to send three prime breeding pairs back to the DLC. These animals, together with two pairs already at the Lemur Center, were placed in the same large room of the Lemur Center's nocturnal building (each pair in a separate cage) in the hopes that the presence of multiple breeding pairs of the lemur in close proximity might somehow stimulate breeding. Unfortunately, of this writing (May, 2005) no breeding has occurred and the future of this species in captivity does not look promising.