Sifaka

Distribution and Habitat
The different species of sifakas cover the island of Madagascar.  The Verreaux’s sifakas live in the southern ‘spiny desert’ region, and have adapted to the dryer climate.  The other species live in the different moist forests in the highland areas.  

Taxonomy and Physical Description
Sifakas are a group of the prosimian family of Indris.  Sifakas break down into 3 main species, Propithecus verreauxi, P. diadema, P. tattersali.  There has also been debate about whether the P. diadema species may be 4 species or subspecies.  All sifakas have larger hind legs than forelegs, giving them a human-like appearance when they scurry upright. The species differ by physical coloring. Diademed sifakas have whitish fur with a dark face, contrasting the golden-crowned sifakas with dark faces, but reddish heads and golden fur.   One of the diadema subspecies is even black with white ear tufts. 

Diet and Health
Sifakas forage much of the day looking for different kinds of vegetation.  They will occasionally eat insects, but are primarily plant eaters.  They have been recorded eating over 150 different species of plants annually, but that varies by season.  They also often consume clay soils, presumably to get nutrients from the soil that are not available in their leafy diet.  

Social Behavior and Reproduction
Sifakas live in social groups of various arrangements, multiple males, multiple females and their offspring.  The groups are led by a dominant female, although males usually defend the group from predators.  If the group is very large, the sifakas will sleep in pairs in different nearby trees, rather than all clustered in one tree.  Sifakas, like lemurs, have modified incisor and canine teeth that act like combs for grooming themselves and members of their group.   Sifakas use calls and scent marking to communicate
Female sifakas reach maturity at three to five years, and reproduce in alternate years, giving birth to one to two offspring.  Their gestation period is 5-6 months depending on the size of the species.  The newborn clings to its mothers belly for the first month, feeding on milk.  It will stay with its mother until it becomes independent, and often leaves the group.  Males will actually carry the young in the group some of the time.  

Zoo News
Madagascar! will be a new exhibit at the Bronx Zoo.  It will highlight the world’s fourth largest island, off Africa’s east coast, home to a startling array of endemic flora and fauna such as the fascinating ring-tailed lemur, radiated tortoise, Nile crocodile, and a unique mammalian predator known as the fossa. Madagascar! will feature the country’s wealth of wildlife diversity in a spectacular and authentic reproduction of several habitats representative of that island nation. A replica of a bizarre arid forest of spiny trees found in the dry south of Madagascar will occupy the central gallery of the exhibit and will be home to the charismatic ring-tailed lemurs and brown lemurs. The “spiny forest” will also feature the radiated tortoise, a rare reptile native only to the southern portion of the island of Madagascar. Each animal and environment in this exhibit will be part of a larger mission to depict wild creatures in their natural landscapes and to showcase the work of WCS to preserve Earth’s remaining wild places and the wildlife within them.

Conservation of Sifakas
With its extraordinary, yet highly threatened endemic biodiversity, Madagascar is a global conservation priority. Poverty and unsustainable resource use are leading to the depletion of the island's biodiversity and having dramatic impacts on the mostly rural population. However, as Madagascar enters the third phase of its national environmental action plan, there is a new vision for the sustainable development of the country.  Because they are tree-dwelling species, sifakas are threatened by deforestation.  WCS is a key partner in this country-wide conservation plan, which encompasses the involvement of communities and the establishment of protected areas in an integrated approach to development and conservation. WCS has worked in Madagascar for over 13 years in site-based programs and on species-based conservation.  In the overall aim to inform sustainable resource use in Madagascar's unique terrestrial and marine environments, WCS' work is integrated in national and regional conservation planning and policy development initiatives.