The golden bamboo lemur (''Hapalemur aureus''), or in Malagasy, is a medium-sized bamboo lemur

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to south-eastern

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

Description

The golden bamboo lemur is

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of dayli ...

i.e. is a most active at dawn and dusk. It is about the size of a

domestic cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members o ...

and is long plus a tail of , and on average weighs . File:Hapalemur aureus 001.jpg File:Golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) feeding.jpg File:Golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) feeding 2.jpg

Distribution

The species is endemic to the rain forests of south–eastern Madagascar at elevations of . It is known from the vicinity of

Ranomafana National Park Ranomafana National Park is in the southeastern part of Madagascar in Haute Matsiatra and Vatovavy. With more than 41,600 hectares (161 square miles) of tropical rainforest, it is home to several rare species of flora and fauna including the ...

(first discovery in 1986 by Patricia Wright),

Andringitra National Park Andringitra National Park is a national park in the Haute Matsiatra region of Madagascar, south of Ambalavao. The park was established in 1999 and is managed by the Madagascar National Parks Association. It was inscribed in the World Heritage Site ...

(discovered in 1993), possibly in a forest corridor that connects Ranomafana with

Ecology

As its name indicates, this lemur feeds almost exclusively on grasses, especially the giant bamboo or ''volohosy'' (''

Cathariostachys madagascariensis ''Cathariostachys madagascariensis'', the Madagascar giant bamboo or in Malagasy language, Malagasy language, is a bamboo species found in Madagascar. Description The culms are tall and erect, usually between but occasionally reaching up to ; ...

'') feeding on new shoots, leaf bases and the creepers. The growing shoots of this bamboo contain 0.015% (1 part in 6667) of

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

. Each adult lemur eats about of bamboo per day, which contain about twelve times the lethal dose of cyanide for most other animals of this size. They live in small groups of two to six individuals and have a home range of up to . but usually move less than in a day. Females have a gestation period of approximately 138 days and give birth to one infant (occasionally two) at the beginning of the rainy season, in November or December. The young are highly dependent on their mothers and are kept hidden in dense vegetation for the first two weeks.

Conservation

The golden bamboo lemur was discovered in 1986 by Dr. Patricia Wright, in what is now

. The park was opened in 1991 to protect this endangered lemur, as well as several other lemur species and its flora and fauna. The population is declining, predominantly due to hunting and to ongoing habitat loss; with only about 1,000 individuals remaining. The principal

loss of habitat Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

is due to

slash-and-burn agriculture Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

or the harvesting of bamboo, for use as a building material as well as for carrying water and basket making. The species is classified as critically endangered by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(IUCN) and is listed on Appendix I of

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of intern ...

, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention).

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q775192 Bamboo lemurs Endemic fauna of Madagascar Mammals of Madagascar Critically endangered fauna of Africa Mammals described in 1987 EDGE species Fauna of the Madagascar lowland forests Fauna of the Madagascar subhumid forests