Coquerel's Sifaka

Coquerel's sifaka is a medium-sized, diurnal, mostly tree-dwelling lemur native to the dry deciduous forests of northwestern Madagascar, including coastal forests. It has a white back and tail, a bare black face with a white patch across the nose, and maroon patches on the chest and limbs. Groups of about three to ten animals are matriarchal, with females having first access to food. Its fibrous, plant-based diet varies by season and is digested with an enlarged cecum and a very long colon. In the trees it moves by vertical clinging and leaping, and it can place its hands and feet precisely on spiny trees without hurting itself.

About the Coquerel's sifaka

Coquerel's sifaka is a medium-sized, mostly white lemur from the dry forests of northwestern Madagascar. It belongs to the sifakas, the lemur genus Propithecus, and it is active by day. The species is listed as Critically Endangered because of habitat loss and hunting.

Its scientific name is Propithecus coquereli, and it is named after the French entomologist Charles Coquerel. It was once treated as a subspecies of Verreaux's sifaka before being recognized as a full species, and the two can still hybridize. Its family, Indriidae, includes the indris and the other sifakas. Like all lemurs, it has a toothcomb, a row of forward-pointing lower teeth used for grooming and sometimes for scraping fruit off a pit.

Adults weigh 3.7–4.3 kg (8.2–9.5 lb). The coat is dense and mostly white on the back, limbs and tail, which can range to silver-grey. Large chocolate-brown or maroon patches cover the chest, the front of the arms and the thighs, and their exact size and placement vary between individuals. The face is bare and black, with a distinctive strip of white fur along the bridge of the nose. The small black ears are hairless, the eyes are yellow or orange, and the palms and soles are black.

Males and females look much alike. Males can be told apart by a scent gland on the throat, which stains the surrounding skin and fur, and by darker reddish-brown skin around the rear.

Behavior and diet

Coquerel's sifaka is diurnal and spends most of its time in the trees. It moves by vertical clinging and leaping, pushing off from one upright trunk to another and holding its body upright both at rest and in flight. It can jump up to 11 m (35 ft) from tree to tree, and it can land on spiny trees, placing its hands and feet precisely enough to avoid getting hurt.

When it has to cross open ground, it does something unusual. It drops to the ground and moves in a series of bipedal hops with its arms thrown out to the sides for balance. Its relative, Verreaux's sifaka, does this too, but bounds sideways with its legs crossing. Coquerel's sifaka instead hops forward, like a kangaroo, leaning into each jump.

These sifakas live in groups of about three to ten animals, and females are in charge. All adult females, and even most young females, dominate the males. Females eat first and get the best food. A male waits until a female has finished feeding before moving in, and if he gets in her way she may lunge at, slap or bite him. He responds by tucking his tail between his legs, chattering softly and grimacing before leaping away. Females also tend to lead the group when foraging.

Groups mostly use an area of just 2–3 hectares (4.9–7.4 acres), within home ranges of about 4–9 hectares (9.9–22.2 acres). Neighboring groups' ranges can overlap, but groups avoid one another to prevent fights. Friendly sifakas greet each other by rubbing noses.

The species is highly territorial and communicates by sound, sight and scent. The name "sifaka" comes from its "shif-auk" call: a low, bubbling growl followed by a click like an amplified hiccup. This call warns the group of predators on the ground and threatens intruders. Roaring barks signal danger from birds of prey, while soft grunts and growls keep the group together on the move. A lost sifaka gives a long, loud wail. Males scent-mark by rubbing a throat gland along branches, while females more often mark with anogenital glands.

The diet is entirely plant-based and changes with the season. In the wet season, sifakas eat young leaves, flowers, fruit, bark and dead wood. In the dry season, they switch to mature leaves and buds. They may browse close to 100 plant species but spend most of their feeding time on about a tenth of them. To handle such a fibrous diet, they have an enlarged cecum and a very long colon. Foraging takes up 30–40% of the day, especially morning, midday and evening, and by eating fruit they help spread seeds through the forest.

Females choose their mates and often mate with several males, both from their own group and from visiting groups. Males fight over receptive females, but the winner is not necessarily the one chosen. Mixing up paternity this way is thought to reduce the risk that males will kill infants. Females come into season together in January and February. After a pregnancy of about 162 days, a single infant is born in the June and July dry season, weighing 85–115 g (3–4 oz). It clings to its mother's chest for about a month, then rides on her back, and it is weaned and independent at about six months. Sexual maturity comes at two to three and a half years, and adult size anywhere from one to five years.

Range and habitat

Coquerel's sifaka is found only in northwestern Madagascar. Its range runs from the Betsiboka River north to the Maevarano River and covers most forest fragments between them, though the eastern limits are unclear. It lives in dry deciduous forest and in mixed deciduous and evergreen forest, both old-growth and regrowth, including coastal forest and mangroves, from sea level to about 300 m (980 ft). It crosses scrub when moving between forest patches and is often seen near villages and in areas dominated by introduced trees.

A 2014 study in Ankarafantsika National Park found densities from 5 to 100 sifakas per square kilometer (13–259 per square mile), with fewer animals near roads and forest edges and more near rivers. The park's population may number around 47,000.

Conservation status

Coquerel's sifaka is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, based on a 2020 assessment, and is on Appendix I of CITES. It occurs in only two protected areas, Ankarafantsika National Park and the Bora Special Reserve, and even those offer limited protection. Hunting happens inside Ankarafantsika, and Bora has become badly degraded.

The main threats are deforestation, habitat fragmentation and hunting. Local people clear forest for farmland, especially for rice in marshy areas, and in the northwest the forest is burned each year to make new pasture for livestock. Trees are also cut for charcoal. Many Malagasy traditions forbid killing these lemurs, including a legend of a sifaka catching a boy who fell from a tree, but these taboos are breaking down, and the species is now hunted for bushmeat.

Natural predators include hawks and other raptors, constrictor snakes and the fossa. Introduced dogs, cats, mongooses and civets add to the pressure. People remain the biggest danger of all, and sifakas now give alarm calls when humans approach.