Wednesday 15 May
Guest Blog: Join Our SOS! Campaign to Help Polar Bears with Polar Bears International

| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Primates |
| Family | Lemuridae |
| Genus | Hapalemur (1) |
The endangered golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) is one of the world's most endangered mammals. It has pale orange fur on the back with grey to brown guard hairs and yellowish underparts (4). The face is black, and drawn into a short muzzle, with golden eyebrows, cheeks and throat, and short hairy ears (4). Males and females are generally similar in appearance, but females are often slightly more greyish on the back (4).
The golden bamboo lemur feeds on young shoots, creepers and leaf bases of the endemic giant bamboo (Cephalostachium viguieri) (4), and has evolved to be resistant to the high concentrations of cyanide found within the tissues of this plant (6). Around 500 grams of bamboo are eaten every day; this represents roughly 12 times the usual mammalian lethal dose of cyanide (4). Main peaks of activity occur at dusk and dawn, but it is probably also active at some points during the night (4). The golden bamboo lemur lives in family groups of between two to six individuals (5). Females give birth in November and December (6).
TopEndemic to Madagascar, the golden bamboo lemur was first described by western science in 1987. It is found in the southeast of Madagascar, in Ranomafana National Park and was discovered in Andringitra Nature Reserve in 1993 (5).
TopThe golden bamboo lemur inhabits forests that contain giant bamboo (Cephalostachium viguieri) (6).
TopThe golden bamboo lemur is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List (1), listed in Appendix I of CITES (3).
TopMainly threatened by habitat loss through slash-and-burn agriculture (6), although the golden bamboo lemur may also be under threat from hunting for food and for the pet trade (5). Recent estimates believe that there are under 400 individuals remaining in the wild (4).
TopIn 1991, three areas of land around the village of Ranomafana were designated as Ranomafana National Park. Furthermore, the area in Andringitra that supports this species is a strict nature reserve and made the transition to a National Park in October 1999 (7). The golden bamboo lemur within these areas are therefore afforded a degree of protection (5), but slash-and-burn agriculture is encroaching at the park boundaries (6). Although Malagasay law forbids the hunting, killing and capturing of all lemurs (4), problems may still arise as the law is difficult to enforce (5). At present there is a very small captive population in Madagascar, but there is no co-ordinated breeding programme (5).
TopFor further information on the conservation of the golden bamboo lemur and other lemurs:
For more information on conservation in Madagascar:
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
More »Related species
Image credit
© Visuals Unlimited / naturepl.com
Nature Picture Library
5a Great George Street
Bristol
BS1 5RR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 117 911 4675
Fax: +44 (0) 117 911 4699
info@naturepl.com
http://www.naturepl.com
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.