Coquerel’s Sifaka
Conservation Endures…The first birth of 2012
Our thirteen year old Coquerel’s sifaka female, Pia, has became the first sifaka to deliver an infant this nascent 2012 birth season (a total of four sifaka females were pronounced pregnant by our Vet Staff). She gave birth to a female weighing 103 grams, in the early morning hours of January 7th. The infant’s sire...
Sifaka infant watch is on!
January is not my favorite month. The holidays are over, and with them all those wonderful three and four day work weeks. It’s cold, dreary and dark outside. The holiday cookies have all been eaten. But in all that dreary darkness there is one bright spot at the Lemur Center: January marks the true...
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Lemur Keeper
By Ben Soltoff, Duke ‘12 Voices crackle back and forth across the Duke Lemur Center as technicians radio one another about the upcoming VIP tour. In the kitchen, a few techs prepare a batch of aye-aye gruel while others check a whiteboard for the feeding schedule. Britt Keith, the Technician Supervisor, walks briskly through...
Ark of the Lemurs
by Dennis Meredith, Science Writer The Lemur Center is an unequalled refuge for lemurs, said Duke evolutionary anthropologist Brian Hare. “This is the ark of the lemurs. There is no other place like this on the planet, and it is an amazing research resource, so we need to protect it as best we can. “The...
Overview
Coquerel’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi coquereli) are delicate leaf-eaters from the dry northwestern forests of Madagascar. In addition to P.verreauxi, there are three species of sifaka. These include the golden-crowned sifaka (LINK TO GOLDEN CROWNED) (Propithecus tattersalli) and the diademed sifaka (LINK TO DIADEMED SIFAKA) (Propithecus diadema diadema). Both Propithecus verreauxi and Propithecus diadema each have...
Feeding
Coquerel’s Sifaka feed on young leaves, flowers, fruit, bark and dead wood in the wet season, and mature leaves and buds in the dry season. Leaves make up a significant portion of the sifaka diet both in the wild as well as in captivity. In fact, the digestive system of these folivorous primates requires that...
Fact Sheet
Order: Primates; Suborder: Prosimii Family: Indriidae; Genus: Propithecus Species: verrauxi; Subspecies : coquereli Related Species See Diademed Sifaka. (LINK TO DIADEMED SIFAKA) Key Facts Adult Size : 7.3 – 9.9 pounds Social life : Sociable, small family groups of 3 – 10 animals of varying ages Habitat : northwestern dry deciduous forest Diet : young...
Reproduction
In the wild, female Coquerel’s sifaka give birth to one offspring in mid-summer, after a gestation period of approximately 162 days. Infants cling to their mothers’ bellies for the first three to four weeks of life. Then, the young sifaka will begin spending a gradually increasing amount of time riding, jockey style, on mom’s back....
Social Behavior
Coquerel’s sifaka live in social groups of between 3 and 10 individuals, and age and sex composition of the groups vary widely. Females are dominant to males, which gives them preferential access to food and the choice of with whom to mate. A home range of between 10 and 22 acres (4 – 9 ha)...
Habitat/Conservation
The Lemur Center’s colony of Coquerel’s sifaka is the most successful breeding colony in the world of this species or any species of sifaka. The Center maintains 21 animals (12 males, 9 females). The Lemur Center has been successful enough with our breeding program to send animals to other zoological institutions. The Los Angeles Zoo...
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