Brown lemur

Brown lemurs are mostly brown or greyish in colour, with a dark face and striking orange eyes. Males and females are almost identical in colour and size. They are about 100cm long – but half of that is tail!

As they have large territories in the wild, brown lemurs occupy a variety of forest types, spending most of their time in the canopy of the trees and as little as 2% of their time on the ground. Brown lemurs are most active during the day, but will sometimes continue into the night, especially during full moons and the dry season.

‘Slash-and-burn’ deforestation, charcoal production and illegal logging are all major threats to these lemurs, but hunting is also an increasing problem (including with blowpipes, firearms, bow-and-arrows and traps) and sometimes, entire groups are captured.