Habitat/Conservation
Golden-crowned sifakas have an extremely limited distribution, and are found only in dry forest in northeastern Madagascar between the Loky and Manambato Rivers near the town of Daraina. The total range of P. tattersalli encompasses an area only 30 to 35 km across at its widest point. In fact, it has one of the smallest ranges and documented populations of any species of lemur. It occurs in both deciduous and semi-evergreen forest and no part of its range is protected. In addition, the sifaka's preferred forest habitat in this area is not continuous, but instead is fragmented. Hence, some groups are now physically and genetically isolated from the main population.
The major threats to this sifaka are from slash and burn agriculture. Although local people consider it fady (forbidden) to eat this lemur, newcomers to the area who are becoming more abundant with each passing year have no such beliefs. Due to these factors, the golden-crowned sifaka is considered to be one of the top ten most endangered primates in the world.