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| Common Name: | Red-bellied lemur | Family: | Lemuridae |
| Latin Name: | Eulemur rubriventer | Diet: | Omnivore |
| Type: | Mammal | Habitat: | Tropical rainforests |
| Native To: | Africa | Social Unit: | Group |
| IUCN Red List Status: | Vulnerable |
Red-bellied lemurs at Edinburgh Zoo
We have three red-bellied lemurs here at Edinburgh, Gizmo the female was born in April 2009 and came to us from Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire. The male is called Bart, arrived here in June 2012 from Jardin Zoologique Tropical, La Londe in the south of France.
We are delighted to reveal the Gizmo has given birth to her first baby on 4 May 2013.
Where it can be found at Edinburgh Zoo
Our red-bellied lemurs can be found in the monkey house, to the West of the Zoo, near the giant pandas.
Red-bellied lemurs in the wild
Red-bellied lemurs (Eulemur rubriventer) live in the rainforests of eastern Madagascar. Males and females are easily told apart as only males have a red belly while females have a white one.
A troop of red-bellied lemurs consists of an adult breeding pair and their young of varying ages. The lemur family is very close, feeding, travelling and sleeping together. Grooming is also a part of daily life; they use the teeth on the lower jaw like a comb, removing ticks and fleas from each other’s coats.
After a gestation period of approximately four months, the adult female usually gives birth to a single infant. For the first five weeks the youngster is carried about on the backs of both mother and father with the infant using its tail to help hold on. After this time the young lemur will start to move around independently but will still mostly travel on dad’s back for another two months.
Red-bellied lemurs have a mixed diet of flowers, fruit, insects, leaves and nectar.
The main threat to the red-bellied lemur is habitat loss. Large areas of forest have been cleared in the east of Madagascar for logging and agricultural land. These lemurs are also hunted heavily in some areas. Due to these threats, red-bellied lemurs have been listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a Vulnerable species. This means that the red-bellied lemur is considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.
Breeding programme category: EEP
IUCN Red List Category: Vulnerable
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