Aug
25
Indri
August 25, 2002 | 3 Comments
Indri indri: Here’s Corrine with one awesome lemur. You can’t see indri in zoos, because they refuse to eat in captivity. Don’t miss Perinet — home to more than sixty family groups of indri — if you want to see them and hear the unforgettable “Song of the Indri.” This lemur is virtually tailless, and has long, strong hind legs with which it leaps amazing distances through the jungle. Try tracking one of these; there’s no way you can keep up!
Call of the wild: The indri call sounds like a cross between a an eerie whale song and an ambulance siren, and can be heard for a couple of miles. A group’s “song” is answered by neighboring groups; apparently this singing works better than fighting over territory. Perhaps we humans should try it; can you imagine singing contests instead of wars?
Family life: Indri don’t reach sexual maturity until they’re 7 to 9 years old, and females are probably only capable of giving birth to a single offspring every 2-3 years. Group size is 2 to 6 individuals: an adult pair with their dependent offspring. The female is dominant, and gets first chance at food. Families defend their territories with the indris’ “characteristic eerie wailing song.”
(This photo is from my trip to Madagascar in 2000.)
Comments
3 Comments so far
Hi Corrine, I’m an italian researcher!
I’m so surprised to see your photo with the black indri! I’m working on the song of the indris from 2004 and I’ve never studied the black indris. Can I ask you were you finded this very habituated indri? I’m strarting to extend my research, so I’m trying to find new research sites with animals habituated at the human presence. Thank you very much! Bye! Vivi
Hi Vivi,
I’m Laurie McAndish King, the website owner. I *think* the photo was in Aanalamazoatra (Périnet) Reserve. Corrine is a researcher, so the indri may not have been quite as habituated as it appears (my memory is a little fuzzy, as the photo was taken in 2000). What kind of research are you doing, and where?
Laurie
Hi Laurie!
Thank you for your answer. I’m studying the song of the indris at Analamazaotra forest (In the south of his areal distribution), but here the indris are white and black and not completely black. The black indris inhabits the forest in the north. I think that it is possible that the animal was a little anestethized, however I’m very curious!
Thanks anyway!
Viviana