White-footed sportive lemur facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White-footed sportive lemur |
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The white-footed sportive lemur is also known as the white-footed weasel lemur or dry-bush weasel lemur. Its scientific name is Lepilemur leucopus. This lemur is a type of lemur that belongs to the sportive lemur family.
It looks a lot like other lemurs in its family. It has a grey back and a lighter grey or white belly. Its tail is a light brown color. This lemur is a nocturnal animal, meaning it is active at night. It moves through the forest by clinging to trees and leaping from one to another. It lives only in Madagascar, which is an island country. You can find it in the dry shrubland areas in the southern part of the island. Sadly, its home is shrinking because of farming and making charcoal.
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What It Does: Behavior
What It Eats
This sportive lemur mostly eats leaves. During the dry season, especially around a place called Berenty, it might only eat the leaves and flowers of a plant called Alluaudia.
This lemur does something a bit unusual: it eats its own feces (poop). This is called coprophagy. It does this to help break down the tough cellulose found in the leaves it eats. This way, it can get all the nutrients from its food.
How It Lives Together
The main group for this lemur is a mother and her babies. Male lemurs live by themselves. Each male has his own territory, which might overlap with the territories of one or more females.
Males and females might meet at night. They sometimes look for food together or groom each other. This species is polygynous, meaning one male will mate with several females. The male protects his territory by watching it carefully. He also makes loud calls when another male comes too close. Sometimes, males might even fight to defend their space.
Where It Lives: Ecology
You can find the white-footed sportive lemur in southern Madagascar spiny thickets. These areas are full of spiny plants, especially from the Didiereaceae family. They also live in gallery forests, which are forests found along rivers.
Scientists used to think this lemur only lived between two rivers, the Menarandra and the Mandrare River. But because of new ways of classifying lemurs, its exact home range is not clear anymore. In the Berenty Private Reserve in southern Madagascar, there are many of these lemurs. Scientists have estimated hundreds of them live in just one square kilometer!
Because we are not sure about its exact home, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists its conservation status as Data Deficient. This means there isn't enough information to know how threatened it is. If it really only lives in that small area between the two rivers, it might be listed as a threatened species soon.
Why It's in Danger and How We Can Help
One big problem for this lemur is that its home is being used for livestock to graze. People burn the forests and shrubland every year to create new areas for farming. Then, too many animals eat the plants there, which harms the land. People also cut down trees in these areas to make charcoal.
Luckily, these lemurs are protected in two special places. They live safely in Andohahela National Park and the Berenty Private Reserve. These protected areas help ensure the lemurs have a place to live and thrive.
