Ring-tailed Lemur

Ring-tailed lemurs live in social groups and spend nearly half their time on the ground, the other in trees. All lemurs are found in the wild only on the island of Madagascar, where they are threatened by habitat loss, hunting and the pet trade.

Stable

Threatened

Endangered

Good News: You Can Help Save Lemurs in the Wild

May 12, 2020

We hope you enjoyed spending time with our Coquerel’s sifakas during earlier today! The Houston Zoo loves its lemurs and has worked in Madagascar with a lemur-saving organization called GERP for many years.…

Scientific Name

Lemur catta

Range

South and southwest Madagascar

Location in the Zoo

Wortham World of Primates

Cool Animal Fact

Males have scent glands on their wrists and chest to mark territory. They engage in “stink fighting” with other males after their tails are anointed with scent.

VIDEO

How the Houston Zoo is working to save wildlife in Madagascar:

How we Help Save Them

We awarded Razafy Bernard Faly, a lemur conservationist in Madagascar, the Admission Team’s “Wildlife Warrior” award to help build his capacity to save lemurs in Africa.
2019 World Lemur Day festival engaged 800 people in celebration of lemurs.
We provided support, salaries and equipment for Patrol officers to monitor forests in Madagascar and protect many species of lemur.
1 new species of mouse lemur was discovered through our support.

How You Can Help

Become an informed shopper about furniture, musical instruments and other wood products. Whenever possible, choose locally sourced wood and don’t buy anything that is made of imported wood.