Inventory of the Eulemur macaco flavifrons population in the Sahamalaza protected area, northwest Madagascar, with notes on an unusual colour variant of E. macaco.

Primate Report Special Issue 72 (1): 39-40.

Abstract:

The blue-eyed black lemur (Eulemur macaco flavifrons; Emf), the taxonomic validity of which was recently confirmed, was rediscovered by science only in 1983 and is still one of the least-studied of all lemur taxa.
It is only found in the sub-humid forests of the Sahamalaza peninsula and in a small stretch of forest on the adjacent mainland. In the north-eastern part of its range the subspecies seems to hybridise with the nominate subspecies, E. m. macaco (Emm).

Emf is listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. Its remaining habitat is already substantially fragmented. A protected area, including the Sahamalaza peninsula and thus the probably largest remaining population of blue-eyed black lemurs, is currently in the process of creation. As part of a long-term research and conservation programme we counted the total number of individual Emf in two fragments of the Ankarafa forest in the south-western part of the peninsula to be 37 individuals on 0.61 km2. We extrapolate this count to the total forested area of the national park and compare the figures with earlier population estimates for the subspecies. We moreover provide preliminary data on a population of Eulemur macaco showing an unusual fur colouration different to that of both described subspecies. These animals occur around the village of Kapany, about 12 km north of Maromandia [5] and thus in the western part of the Emf and Emm border region. As they are homogeneous in colouration across groups and forest fragments it is unlikely that they represent subspecies hybrids.

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22.03.2015