Mongoose Lemur

There is a pair of Mongoose Lemurs in the Transalta Rainforest building at the Calgary Zoo. They are quite happy to come down a tree to say hello! How can you not love those gorgeous, large, orange eyes?! I think this is a male.

"The Mongoose Lemur (Eulemur mongoz) is a lemur ranging from 12 to 18 inches long plus a tail of 16 to 25 inches. The Mongoose Lemur lives in Madagascar dry deciduous forests within Madagascar as well as in Comoros forests on the islands of Comoros. The Mongoose Lemur mostly eats fruit, though flowers, leaves and nectar also make up part of its diet. It is unusual in that depending on the season it is either diurnal or nocturnal.

The Mongoose Lemur is arboreal and lives in small family groups, usually consisting of a bonded pair and 1 to 4 children. These groups rarely encounter one another, but when they do, they are aggressive." From Wikipedia.

"Mongoose lemurs have soft grey-brown fur with a pale grey muzzle and black nose. The males have reddish-brown cheeks and may have a bald patch on top of their heads, caused by rubbing when scent-marking their territories. Females by contrast, have whitish cheeks." From www.bristolzoo.org.