Avahi menidionalis (Zaramody, Fausser, Roos, Zinner, Andriaholinirina, Rabarivola, Norscia, Tattersall & Rumpler, 2006)

Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Indriidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 142-175 : 166

6.

Southern Woolly Lemur

Avahi menidionalis

French: Avahi méridional / German: Sidlicher Wollmaki / Spanish: Lémur lanudo meridional

Other common names: Southern Avahi

Taxonomy. Avahi meridionalis meridionalis Zaramody et al., 2006 ,

Madagascar, Sainte-Luce (approx. 47° 11’ E, 24° 47’ S), Toliara Province.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. SE Madagascar, apparently restricted to Andohahela National Park and the area of Sainte-Luce.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 23-29 cm, tail 30-33 cm; weight 1.1-1 kg. The Southern Woolly Lemuris similar in size to the Eastern Woolly Lemur (A. laniger ) and Peyrieras’s Woolly Lemur (A. peyrierasi ). The dorsal furis gray-brown, toning down to light gray distally, and the ventrum is gray. The tail is red-brown and darkens distally.

Habitat. Primary tropical rainforest and coastal forest.

Food and Feeding. In Sainte Luce, the Southern Woolly Lemur feeds in at least 125 individual trees of 43 species and 26 families. In the study there, two tree species, Cynometra cloiselii ( Fabaceae ) and Plectronia densiflora ( Rubiaceae ), accounted for 41% oftotal feeding time, and the top six preferred plant species made up 60% of total feeding time. Young leaves and flowers are eaten only from September to December when they are available. Flower feeding was limited mostly to green sepals. The Southern Woolly Lemur has never been seen eating fruits, despite their availability. When feeding on adult leaves, the Southern Woolly Lemur selects those with high protein content.

Breeding. Females give birth in August. Infants are carried by the mother for the first four months and become independent in December—January.

Activity patterns. The Southern Woolly Lemur is nocturnal and arboreal. In a study in Sainte Luce, individuals became active 17:34-17:46 h in June-August and 18:05-18:46 h in September-December. They spent 15% of their active time feeding, 67% resting, 14% moving, and 4% carrying out other activities such as grooming themselves and other individuals.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Southern Woolly Lemurs live in pairs that sleep together in the same tree during most days and show some degree of cohesiveness during nightly travel and foraging. Home range size is 2-5-3-5 ha. Home ranges of male and female pair partners overlap by 70-80%. Nightly path of movement 1s 500-800 m. Males have larger home ranges and travel longer distances than females. In a study in Sainte Luce, male and female pair partners spent an average of 19-35% of the night in close proximity to each other. Pair cohesion was higher after females gave birth. Adult densities were 0-6—2-6 ind/ha in a study carried out in forest fragments of Sainte Luce and Mandena.

Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Data Deficient on The [UCN Red List. However, at the [IUCN/SSC Lemur Red-Listing Workshop held in July 2012, A. menidionalis was assessed as endangered due to its small extent of occurrence of less than 2000 km* and its continuing decline through habitat loss and hunting. The Southern Woolly Lemur occurs in Andohahela National Park, Sainte-Luce Reserve, and Mandena Conservation Zone, east of Tolagnaro (= Fort-Dauphin). Further studies are required to determine its exact distribution, and especially its distributional limits relative to those of the neighboring species Peyrieras’s Woolly Lemur and the Manombo Woolly Lemur (A. ramanantsoavanai ).

Bibliography. Andriantompohavana et al. (2007), Lei et al. (2008), Markolf et al. (2011), Mittermeier et al. (2010), Norscia (2008), Norscia & Borgognini-Tarli (2008), Norscia et al. (2012), Rumpler et al. (2011), Zaramody etal. (2006).

Figures

On following pages: 12. Crowned Sifaka (Propithecus coronatus); 13. Coquerel’s Sifaka (Propithecus coquerell); 14. Tattersall’s Sifaka (Propithecus tattersall); 15. Diademed Sifaka (Propithecus diadema); 16. Milne-Edwards's Sifaka (Propithecus edwardsi); 17. Silky Sifaka (Propithecus candidus); 18. Perrier’s Sifaka (Propithecus perrieri).

Distribution. SE Madagascar, apparently restricted to Andohahela National Park and the area of Sainte-Luce.