INDRIIndri indri

Indri

•Simply means ‘there it is’ in the Malagasy language.

•The species got its name from local people shouting ‘indri indri!’ When pointing out the animal to European naturalists, saying, ‘there it is, there it is’.

Indri•It is also called the babakoto

•One of the largest living lemurs

•Related to the Sifakas

•Endemic to Madagascar

•It came from Africa around 50 million years ago

•Habitat Specialists

•Its Diurnal Herbivorous

Taxonomy

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family

-ANIMALIA -CHORDATA –MAMMALIA -PRIMATES -INDRIIDAE

General Information•Size: Head and body length: 610-900 mm

•Tail length: 50-64 mm

•Weight: 6-10 kg

•Distinguished from other lemurs by its almost total lack of tail.

•A dense coat of silky black and white fur, prominent black ears.

General Information•The face and muzzle are black

•They are able to sniff out markings with ease and avoid confrontation.

• Eyes: yellow-green

•Their eyes face forward helping them to judge the distance before making a jump.

General Information•Indris are well adapted to their arboreal

lifestyle

•Long slender hind limbs, and move through the canopy with spectacular bounds of up to ten (10) metres

•Their toes and fingers are dexterous and are good for grasping and their long hind legs aid them in leaping

General Information•Indris communicate through

a series of eerie wailing calls. Through this they can be easily located and identified.

•They call to unite families and to mark their territory. It can be heard up to 2km

Habitat & Ecology•Lives in groups of two to

six individuals

•Normally consisting of a monogamous adult pair (they seek new partners only after a mate dies) and their offspring.

Habitat & Ecology•Low Reproductive Potential•Females reach sexual/reproductive maturity at

7 - 9 years (Pollock 1977). •Reproduction is highly seasonal•Gestation period of between 4 and 5 month•Give birth every two to three years. •Birth of a single offspring occurring in May -

June.

Habitat & Ecology•Male and females sex ratio at birth is

approximately 1:1 (Kappeler 1997).

•Infants clings onto the belly of it's mother for the first few months of life, it then moves round onto her back.

•At 8 months Indri babies are independent of their mother, but generally remain with her until the age of 2 or 3.

Habitat & Ecology•Half of all Indri babies

die before age 2, usually due to sickness or injury.

•Indris have been known to reach their twenties, most live for between 15 and 18 years.

Habitat & EcologyDiet consists primarily of :

•Immature Leaves

•Flowers

•Fruit

•Seeds

•Bark

Habitat & Ecology•Occasionally

descend to the ground to eat the soil, and to detoxify.

Proximate Factors• Classified as Endangered

A2cd on the 2010 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Predation•The native fossa is an

incredibly agile and primarily tree-dwelling mammal that has evolved to catch Lemurs. •Other predators include large

birds and reptiles.

Proximate FactorsHigh Economic Value

•Hunted for their skins

•Immigrants kill the species for food

•“….current levels of indri hunting

are unsustainable.” (Golden 2005,

2009; Jenkins et al. 2011; R. Dolch

pers. comm.).

Ultimate FactorsHabitat loss•Logging and slash-and-burn

agriculture, occurring even within protected areas.•Its habitat so fragmented

that few areas are thought to be large enough to support viable populations of the species

Ultimate Factors•Attempts to keep the

species in captivity proven unsuccessful•There are currently no

Indri in captivity anywhere in the world.•They cannot tolerate

habitat disturbance.

Stochastic factors•Inhabits tropical moist lowland

and montane forests.

•Daily path lengths average 350 m per day.

•This species inhabits the eastern rainforests from the MangoroRiver north to Sambava, but excluding the Masoala Peninsula.

Population•A reasonable estimate

would be a total of 1,000–10,000 individuals (C.Golden pers. comm.)

•To date Population trend is said to be on a decrease.

Recovery Efforts•Many local people consider hunting of the indri

taboo so they assist in it’s protection

•The Malagasy government announced in 2003 that it is committed to tripling the nation’s total protected areas to six million hectares by 2008

•It is given the Highest Priority rating in the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group’s Lemur Action Plan.

Recovery Efforts•Habitat protection was identified as the most

important conservation measure.

•Action plan recommended surveys be carried out to determine the size and status of indri populations in protected areas, and in areas not currently protected to determine the true distribution of the species.

•Research into possible captive breeding programme to insure against possible extinction in the wild and to work more effective on sustaining them

Save The Species• Research should be done at least every 2-3 years to

hasten creation of outreach programs etc.

•More legislation and judicial action against illegal loggers

•More research into captive breeding

• Population control and monitoring of fossa population to minimize over-preditation of this species

• Protected areas should have rangers

• Young can be assisted by researchers to avoid such high infant mortality rate

References

• EDGE of Existence,. (2015). EDGE of Existence. Retrieved 30 April 2015, from http://www.edgeofexistence.org/mammals/species_info.php?id=36#distribution

• Iucnredlist.org,. (2015). Indri indri (Indri). Retrieved 30 April 2015, from http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/10826/0

References

• Arkive.org,. (2015). Indri videos, photos and facts -Indri indri | ARKive. Retrieved 30 April 2015, from http://www.arkive.org/indri/indri-indri/

• A-z-animals.com,. (2015). Indri (Indri indri) -Animals - A-Z Animals - Animal Facts, Information, Pictures, Videos, Resources and Links. Retrieved 30 April 2015, from http://a-z-animals.com/animals/indri/

Interesting Facts•The females are dominant and get to feed first

while the males defend their territory

•They also urinate along borders to mark out their patch

•Colouration varies considerably between populations

Interesting Facts•Individuals at the southern extreme tend to

have larger patches of white fur than the predominantly black individuals in the north.

• Groups in fragmented habitat tend to be larger than those in more extensive, undisturbed areas (Pollock 1979, Powzyk1997). Why do you think?