Gray Gentle Lemur
An infant gray gentle lemur just starting to feed on its own. Click image for larger version.
Hapalemur griseus griseus has no less than three widely used common names: the eastern lesser bamboo lemur, the gray gentle lemur, and the gray bamboo lemur. To avoid confusion, any discussion of bamboo lemurs, eastern lesser bamboo lemurs or gray gentle lemurs on this website, unless otherwise specified, refers to the variety of bamboo lemur housed at the Lemur Center, the eastern lesser bamboo lemur, Hapalemur griseus griseus!
Bamboo lemurs appear to have greater manual dexterity and superior hand-eye coordination than other lemurs. More than likely this is due to their preference for small but tasty bamboo shoots. While foraging through a thick stand of bamboo, searching for these tender bits, the bamboo lemur simply doesn't have time for the typical lemur food searching strategy which is to sniff each and every potential bite. Instead, the bamboo lemur will stand in one spot, and visually scan the nearby foliage for that special shoot.
Like sifaka, bamboo lemurs are, in general, vertical clingers and leapers. They prefer to maintain an upright position when traveling through the trees, and will do so by quickly jumping from one vertical bamboo stalk to another as they make their way through the forest. However, when on the ground, or a horizontal tree branch, the bamboo lemurs, unlike the sifaka, will move quadrupedally, galloping along like small cats.
The bamboo lemurs have a rich vocal repertoire, which includes an unusual call the females make as they are entering their yearly estrous period. They also have separate calls for aerial and ground predators and contact calls for short and long distances. Far from the complex rainforest environment of Madagascar, in the context of a captive environment where the only social group is the small family group necessary for carefully managed captive breeding, it is difficult to determine the full meaning of this, or any other lemur vocalization.
Vocalizations
Listen to recordings of the vocalizations of a gray gentle lemur. All sounds are in wav format.
- Call (8k)
- Gasping Growl (44k)