Red Ruffed Lemurs in Frisia

02januari2008
Source: frieslandzoo.nl
Lately, Red Ruffed Lemurs can be spotted in Aqua Zoo Frisia. They inhabit the lemur island, together with the ring-tailed lemurs. Red ruffed lemurs are strepsirrhini. They are native only to Madagascar, just like the ring-tailed lemur.
On the red list of the IUCN, red ruffed lemurs are indicated as ‘threatened with extinction’. Within the European zoos a breeding program (EEP) has been started for red ruffed lemurs. Still, reintroducing the red ruffed lemurs in Madagascar is not possible yet, as their habitat is being destroyed at high speed. In the past year, the European zoos have launched a campaign to protect the habitat of these species. More than € 450.000 has been collected, enough to finance over twenty projects in Madagascar.