How does the bamboo lemur survive?

Shifts in rainfall patterns mean there aren’t enough fresh shoots and leaves. Instead, the lemurs have to increasingly eat tough bamboo stalks to survive. This severely damages their teeth — and their ability to continue eating. In effect, climate change may be starving the greater bamboo lemur into extinction.

How does the bamboo lemur reproduce?

Mating Habits Greater bamboo lemurs are polygynous, which means that one male mates with multiple females. Mating occurs in May-June. Females generally give birth in November, which coincides with the transitional dry and wet seasons. A single infant is born after a gestation period of 142 – 149 days.

Why do bamboo lemurs eat bamboo?

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. This feeding strategy is unique due to the fact that bamboo, especially young bamboo, contains high levels of cyanide.

Why are Eastern lesser bamboo lemurs endangered?

There is an estimated 818 individuals in Ranomafana National Park and the decline in numbers is due to hunting and habitat loss. It is listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on Appendix 1 and the IUCN considers it to be vulnerable.

What does the golden bamboo lemur eat?

The Golden bamboo lemurs’ live in primary rainforests that contain giant bamboo, on which they feed almost exclusively. They feed on new shoots, leaf bases and the creepers of the endemic Cephalostachium madagascariensis giant bamboo species.

Who eats bamboo?

Bamboo is an important forage crop around the world for various animals, both wild and domesticated. Almost 100 percent of the giant panda’s diet consists of bamboo. Gorillas, elephants, rats and chimps also eat bamboo.

Why can lemurs eat cyanide?

Bamboo lemurs have adapted in multiple ways to survive cyanide. Detoxification or modification of cellular respiration alone must be insufficient for the amount of cyanide they’re eating, so they have adapted in both ways.

Why are golden bamboo lemurs going extinct?

The species is threatened primarily by the continued loss of its forest habitat due to slash-and-burn agriculture and destruction of bamboo forests for building houses, carrying water, making baskets and other local uses, though they suffer from some hunting pressure.

Are golden bamboo lemurs rare?

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the golden bamboo lemur as Critically Endangered (IUCN, 2020). Their population is in decline due to habitat loss and hunting; it was estimated to be 5,916 in 2005, but now it is likely that only 630 individuals remain (250 of which are mature).

Who eats bamboo and leaves?

Giant panda Soft bamboo shoots, stems, and leaves are the major food source of giant pandas. It makes up to 99% of their diet. Giant pandas consume 12-15 kg a day of bamboo roots, shoots, and leaves (26-33lbs). The favorite part to eat is bamboo shoots, followed by young leaves.

Why can pandas only eat bamboo?

Scientists think the iconic black and white bears switched to eating bamboo in part because it’s extremely abundant and they don’t have to fight with other animals to get it. Bamboo is high in fiber but has a low concentration of nutrients, so pandas have to eat 20 to 40 pounds of the stuff every day just to get by.

What animal can eat cyanide?

Most famous is the Giant Panda, but two bamboo lemurs, the Greater Bamboo Lemur (Prolemur simus) and the Golden Bamboo Lemur (Hapalemur aureus), daily eat bamboo with up to 50 times the lethal dose of cyanide for an animal their size. In other words, these cat-sized primates eat enough cyanide to kill an adult human.

How big does a lesser bamboo lemur get?

Lesser bamboo lemur (Hapalemur griseus) The bamboo lemurs are characterized by a grey-brown fur, which varies by species. Their muzzles are short and their ears are round and hairy. Lengths vary from 26 to 46 cm, with tails just as long or longer, and they weigh up to 2.5 kg.

What kind of animal is the gray lemur?

Hapalemur 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, unless otherwise specified, refers to the variety of bamboo lemur housed at the Lemur Center: the eastern lesser bamboo lemur, Hapalemur griseus.

How often does a golden bamboo lemur come into estrus?

The golden bamboo lemur prefers leaf petioles and new shoots, while the greater bamboo 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. Bamboo lemur females come into estrus once a year, typical for a diurnal lemur.

How is a bamboo lemur different from a sifaka?

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.