Loud wailing filled the air. Very loud wailing. Indri were calling, checking the position of each other and signalling their territory to rival groups. The male in the tree above me had been grazing on the immature leaves with his partner and their baby when the call came through. He opened his mouth and responded with a loud wail.
Calls were very consistent, starting high and repeating the pattern twice, on lower notes (always the same). Occasionally interspersed with a high-pitched wail on a descending pattern (I don’t know if this was perhaps the female call):
Indri are the largest living lemur species, weighing between 7 and 10kgs. Feeding on immature leaves, they’ve also been seen eating soil – researchers believe it’s because the earth provides additional nutrients they need. Their wail is what makes the so distinct from the other lemurs. And it can travel up to 2km, alerting other lemurs to their presence.
Like most lemurs, indri live in family groups and mate for life. Females are dominant, deciding the route the group will take through the forest with the male taking a protective role.
A variety of species coexist happily within the rainforest. For instance, the indri feeds on immature leaves at about 13m above ground level, and brown lemurs on fruit at 11m high. Some animals are diurnal (active during the day) and others nocturnal (active during the night). The brown lemur is the only species that is active both day and night, alternating between feeding and resting.
And some action shots:
“Wake up, wake up… lemurs!”
A family of brown lemurs was foraging in the tree outside our balcony. A mother with a baby and her male:
Amazing to watch them so close – I felt very privileged.
Floor didn’t seem very enthusiastic. Our “guide” was excellent at spotting the animals (which, to be fair, is the important bit), but her lack of enthusiasm was palpable and getting information about what we were seeing proved very hard work. She didn’t provide us with much information or point out interesting things around the rainforest. And I’m sure there were plenty. She’d be a guide since 2000. Maybe she’d lost interest. It was a real shame.
During the night walk, we added another brown lemur, two fat-tailed dwarf lemurs and a mouse lemur (colour unknown) to our collection. No photos as it was too dark, but amazing to see them in the wild – I never get bored of watching them.
A wonderfully lemur-filled day 🙂
Other random stuff from today:
A green gecko:
Giant fern:
Dazzling green bottle fly:
An elephant-ear chameleon (bet you can’t guess why it’s called that!):
And a white frog (that Floor did identify, but I didn’t understand what she said and she was obviously not interested in explaining):
A very satisfying day, that could have been even better with a decent guide.
