Unlike other primates, ring-tailed lemurs can not grip with their tails.
Found in the wild only in the southeastern region of Madagascar, the ring-tailed lemur is most recognizable by its lengthy tail, which includes 13 alternating black and white rings and measures up to 24 inches long. Unlike other lemurs, which prefer the safety of trees, the ring-tailed lemur spends about 40 percent of its time foraging for food on the ground, according to data from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Its diet reflects the seasonal nature of its habitat.
Infant Diet
For the first week of its life, a ring-tailed lemur nurses exclusively while clinging to the front of its mother. It begins to sample solid foods after a week, but nursing continues to be its primary source of caloric intake until it is 2 months old, when weaning begins. By 5 months old, an infant ring- tailed lemur is completely weaned.
General Diet
Although officially classified as herbivores, ring-tailed lemurs are more like "opportunistic omnivores," according to Kristina Cawthon Lang at the National Primate Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Living at altitudes ranging from sea level to 8,530 feet, in habitats that include rain forests, and subalpine, deciduous, gallery and spiny bush forests, ring-tailed lemurs experience an ever-changing buffet of food depending on the season.
Tops on the menu is fruit and leaves from tamarind trees, which can provide up to 50 percent of the ring- tailed lemur's food source, Lang writes. Other diet sources include flowers, stems of leaves and flowers, spiders and their webs, termite mound dirt, caterpillars, cicadas, cocoons, grasshoppers, birds, chameleons, and exudate, which is the fluid that is emitted from blood vessels and pools around inflamed or injured areas of the skin of other animals [Ref 1].
Water Source
During certain times of the year and in certain habitat areas, water is hard to come by, so the ring-tailed lemur relies on succulent plants such as aloe and prickly pear cactus for water, in addition to drinking dew that accumulates in crevices of trees and plants.
In Captivity
In captivity, the ring-tailed lemur's diet varies depending on the zoo where it lives. For instance, at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington D.C., ring-tailed lemurs are fed fruits, vegetables and leaf-eater biscuits; at the Philadelphia Zoo, they are given specially formulated primate chow; fresh produce such as oranges, carrots and brussels sprouts; raisins; and yogurt.
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