Golden-Crowned Sifaka
A golden-crowned sifaka dangles from one hand. Click image for larger version.
The golden-crowned sifaka is the third species of sifaka, and also the smallest. It is the only sifaka with ear tufts. It is also one of most recently discovered species of diurnal lemurs. They were first photographed in 1982 by Ian Tattersall, and originally identified as a subspecies of Propithecus diadema. In 1988, then-Lemur Center Director Elwyn Simons described the golden-crowned sifaka in a scientific journal and based upon genetic analysis declared it to be an entirely different species.
Current captive population size consists of only three males, all at the DLC. The young male, Valens, now nearly five years old, is the only golden-crowned sifaka ever to have survived in captivity from a captive conception. Unfortunately Valens' mother died when he was only five months old. Unless more animals can be imported from Madagascar, the future of this species in captivity looks as grim as its continued survival in the wild.