Verreaux Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi) lives in dry spiny forest across Southern and western Madagascar. Its conservation status is Critically Endangered.
Fascinating facts about the Verreaux Sifaka
- Only about 45 % of female sifakas breed each year, timing their oestrus to the short rainy window of late January, early February. After a 130-day pregnancy, a single infant clings to its mother's belly for 6-8 weeks, then to her back for another 19 weeks. Roughly 30 % of newborns fall prey to the island's top predator, the fossa, highlighting the constant danger of life on the ground.
- The sifaka is officially Critically Endangered, listed on CITES Appendix I and the IUCN Red List since 2020. Yet a long-term study at Baza Mahafaly showed a near-stable population growth rate of 0.98, suggesting the species isn't yet spiralling toward extinction. Meanwhile, dry forests in Kirindy Mitea National Park have shrunk 43 % from 1973 to 2023, and continued loss could erase the very habitat that keeps these leapers alive.
- Verreaux's sifakas can launch themselves up to ten metres between trees. This power comes from their vertical-clinging, leaping lifestyle, letting them zip through the canopy.
- An adult Verreaux's sifaka measures with a body length of 42.5-45 cm and a tail that adds another 56-60 cm, making it look like a living ruler. Females weigh about 3.4 kg and males 3.6 kg.
- Sifakas live in tight family groups of two to twelve individuals, often a single dominant male with several females. Within these troops, females outrank males, creating a matriarchal hierarchy.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSouthern and western Madagascar
HabitatDry spiny forest
DietLeaves and fruits
About the Verreaux Sifaka
In the arid forests of Madagascar, the Verreaux Sifaka dances across the landscape with effortless elegance, its long legs propelling it in majestic bounds that eat up the distance with a hypnotic rhythm. As it moves, its thick, silky fur ripples in the sunlight, like the gentle lapping of waves on a still pond, and its large, round eyes shine with a quiet intelligence, as if drinking in the beauty of its surroundings. This critically endangered lemur is a true marvel of evolution, its very existence a poignant reminder of the fragility and beauty of the natural world.
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