Feeding
A gray gentle lemur feeds on bamboo leaves. Click image for larger version.
It should come as no surprise to learn that the primary food of the eastern lesser gray gentle lemur is bamboo! Although just about any species of bamboo in sufficient quantities will suffice for this diminutive lemur, the animals are highly selective in choosing exactly which part of the plant they prefer. Tender new leaf or plant shoots are favored, as is the base of newly formed leaves. Bamboo lemurs might spend up to 50% of their active periods foraging for and feeding on bamboo. Eagerly pulling the fresh shoots and unfurling leaves from the plant, the lemurs eat the most tender part and discard the rest. If you are walking through a Madagascar rainforest and see that the ground below you is littered with the remains of half eaten bamboo shoots, it is a sure sign that gray gentle lemurs have passed that way!
Only in the winter, when shoots are scarce, will the gray gentle lemur eat a significant amount of mature bamboo leaves. At certain times of the year, bamboo accounts for 90% of their diet. At other times of the year berries, grass stems and other young leaves supplement this lemur's diet.
In captivity, the gray gentle lemur will avidly feed on monkey chow, fruits and vegetables, with bamboo only necessary as an enrichment supplement to the diet.
In the rainforests of Madagascar, the greater gray gentle lemur and the golden gray gentle lemur are much more selective in choosing which species of bamboo they will feed on, and this certainly accounts for their extremely limited distribution. Both species prefer feeding on Madagascar's endemic giant bamboo which is not at all common. However, to avoid feeding competition when occupying the same forest, which these two species sometimes do, each lemur feeds on a different part of the giant bamboo. The golden gray gentle lemur prefers leaf petioles and new shoots, while the greater gray gentle lemur is highly selective towards the tender inner pith, and will literally shred the toughest and most mature stalks to get access to the tasty pith within.