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P A G E 6
D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4
V O L . 3 , N O . 3
Remarkable Dependence on Non-native Bamboo:
The northern bamboo
lemur (
Hapalemur occiden-
talis
) is one of seven spe-
cies of bamboo lemurs in
the genus
Hapalemur
en-
demic to Madagascar. Alt-
hough this species has a
large geographic range
across northeastern and
northwestern Madagascar,
and is not one of the rarest
lemurs (IUCN Red List sta-
tus “vulnerable”), it is a
virtually unstudied species.
As of 2010, only approxi-
mately 18 individuals were
found in European zoos
(IUCN,
Andriaholinirina et
al
., 2014). Other than a
few survey reports, almost
nothing is known about its
basic natural history, diet,
ranging or habitat prefer-
ences. To date, long-term
studies of wild bamboo
lemur feeding ecology and ranging have only been conducted on
H. griseus
(Tan, 1999;
Grassi, 2006),
H. aureus
(Tan, 1999),
H.
alaotrensis
(Mutschler, 1999),
H. meridionalis
(Eppley et al., 2011), and
Prolemur simus
(formerly
H. simus
) (Tan, 1999; Wright et al.,
2008).
In July 2014 we began the first study of
H. occidentalis
diet and ranging after spending
months habituating a single group of three individuals (1 adult male, 1 adult female, 1
subadult male) in a small 17 hectare nature reserve in northeastern Madagascar called
This reserve is a mixed landscape of secondary forest with some frag-
mented primary forest areas as well as formerly cultivated agricultural land. Northern
bamboo lemurs have existed here since the reserve was founded about 15 years ago, and
probably for decades before that (Desiré Rabary, pers. comm.).
Five-minute instantaneous group scan samples were conducted from early in the
morning until dusk, six days a week, from July 1 to December 10 2014. The study is still
by Erik R. Patel, Desiré Rabary, and Jacques Harson Tonkasina
First Account of the Diet and Ranging of the Northern Bamboo Lemur (
Hapalemur occi-
dentalis
) in Madagascar at Antanetiambo Nature Reserve
H. occidentalis
eating young dwarf bamboo shoot.
Photo by Kyle Smith