Wildlife
Verreaux's sifakas are tree-dwelling lemurs of the Madagascan forests. They live and forage for food in small troops, eating almost any plant parts that are above ground. Though adapted for a life spent in spiny trees, these lemurs still have to cross open ground occasionally. They do this up on their hind legs with their forearms held up high for balance. The name sifaka comes from the noisy barking call they make during territorial confrontations.
Scientific name: Propithecus verreauxi
Rank: Species
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Sifakas revisited
After 50 years, David Attenborough's fascination with lemurs is undimmed.
After 50 years, David Attenborough's fascination with lemurs is undimmed.
Dry living
With no need for water, Verreaux's sifakas are perfectly adapted to Madagascar's dry forests.
With no need for water, Verreaux's sifakas are perfectly adapted to Madagascar's dry forests.
Madagascar mystery
How Verreaux's sifakas leap around their spiny habitat with such wild abandon remains a mystery.
How Verreaux's sifakas leap around their spiny habitat with such wild abandon remains a mystery.
Leaping lemurs
How does a sifaka manage to negotiate thorny trees?
Dideria plants are odd looking and covered in spines, making this forest difficult to travel through. Sifakas, however, don't seem to have trouble. It is said to make gigantic leaps, and David Attenborough tries to see how it does it. Sifaka food is almost exclusively vegetable. They are very picky eaters which makes them difficult to keep in captivity. This clip was first broadcast in 1961.
Lemur locomotion
Slow motion analysis of the sifaka's leaping gait shows its prowess over the nimble fossa.
Slow motion analysis of the sifaka's leaping gait shows its prowess over the nimble fossa.
Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.
The Verreaux's sifaka can be found in a number of locations including: Madagascar. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Verreaux's sifaka distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Vulnerable
Population trend: Decreasing
Year assessed: 2008
Classified by: IUCN 3.1
Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), or the white sifaka, is a medium sized primate in one of the lemur families, Indriidae. It lives in Madagascar and can be found in a variety of habitats from rainforest to western Madagascar dry deciduous forests and dry and spiny forests. The fur is thick and silky and generally white with brown on the sides, top of the head, and on the arms. Like all sifakas, it has a long tail that it uses as a balance when leaping from tree to tree. However, its body is so highly adapted to an arboreal existence that on the ground its only means of locomotion is hopping. The species lives in small troops which forage for food.
There are four sub-species of this kind of lemur. There are many things unknown about Verreaux's sifaka, so their life span in the wild has not been approximated, but in captivity they generally live to up to 18 years old.[citation needed]
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Helpless young
Tree dweller
Hierarchical
Tactile sense
Herbivorous
Adapted to jumping
Polygynous
Social
Seed dispersal
Chemical communication
Territorial
Visual communication
Viviparous