Critically Endangered: The Golden Bamboo Lemur

Posted on December 10, 2023 by Charles Yallowitz

Madagascar has tons of lemurs, which makes it difficult to do posts on them.  That being said, I really wanted to mention the Golden Bamboo Lemur at some point.  Due to habitat destruction and hunting, they are considered critically endangered with only about 630 individuals alive.  250 of those are mature.  Even the protected forests aren’t helping due to illegal logging and people go in for poaching to get them for either food or the exotic pet trade. It isn’t looking good for them even with conservation efforts.

What are some facts?

  • They live in groups of no more than 4 individuals.  This is usually a family with one adult male, one adult female, and 1-2 juveniles.
  • They are diurnal and take midday rests.
  • Gestation is 138 days and they can only give birth to 1 infant.
  • Golden Bamboo Lemurs are monogamous breeders.
  • Babies stay with the family group until the age of 3.
  • They are herbivores feeding primarily on bamboo, which explains the name.
  • They were first discovered in 1985.
  • Golden Bamboo Lemurs eat enough bamboo every day to contain 12x the amount of cyanide needed to kill an animal of its size.
  • They’ve evolved a high resistance to cyanide.

Time for Google Images and some videos.

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About Charles Yallowitz

Charles E. Yallowitz was born, raised, and educated in New York. Then he spent a few years in Florida, realized his fear of alligators, and moved back to the Empire State. When he isn't working hard on his epic fantasy stories, Charles can be found cooking or going on whatever adventure his son has planned for the day. 'Legends of Windemere' is his first series, but it certainly won't be his last.
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14 Responses to Critically Endangered: The Golden Bamboo Lemur

  1. coldhandboyack's avatar coldhandboyack says:
    December 10, 2023 at 11:19 am

    That’s crazy. I’m surprised people eat them if they’re full of cyanide. It’s fairly unstable, and might break down during cooking.

    Liked by 1 person

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  3. John W. Howell's avatar John W. Howell says:
    December 10, 2023 at 1:43 pm

    Very cute. I hope they can recover. There’s got to be a special place in hell for poachers.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. noelleg44's avatar noelleg44 says:
    December 10, 2023 at 2:22 pm

    Aren’t they beautiful! We have a lemur center here in Durham that supports various species with a propagation project.

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  5. V.M.Sang's avatar V.M.Sang says:
    December 14, 2023 at 1:04 pm

    Such pretty creatures. I hope they can survive.

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