Critically Endangered
Coquerel's sifaka
Propithecus coquereli
Coquerel's sifaka is a diurnal, medium-sized lemur of the sifaka genus Propithecus.
Appearance
The dorsal pelage and tail of Coquerel's sifaka are white, and it has maroon patches on the chest and portions of the limbs. Its face is bare and black except for a distinctive patch of white fur along the bridge of the nose. Its naked ears are also black, and its eyes are yellow or orange.
Range and habitat
This species lives at altitudes less than 300 ft (91 m) in the dry deciduous forests of northwestern Madagascar, among them coastal forests. It is found from the Betsiboka River up to the Maevarano River, and in large area between these rivers. Extensive surveys of the species' distribution conducted in 2009, 2010, and 2011 led to the confirmation of its presence in most forest fragments between these rivers.
Coquerel's sifaka is found in only two protected areas in Madagascar, the Ankarafantsika National Park and the Bora Special Reserve. Projects for Animal Welfare encourages the neutering and spaying of the cats and dogs on the island to protect the native wildlife.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
This species' herbivorous diet varies by season. Since it has a very fibrous diet, Coquerel's sifaka has an enlarged cecum and extremely long colon that helps facilitate digestion.
Females often lead during foraging and exert their dominance by eating the preferred food or denying the males food until they are satisfied. Captive Coquerel's sifakas eat shining leaf sumac and mimosa. Female Coquerel's sifakas choose their mate(s).
In crisis
It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss and hunting. It is a critically endangered species, according to the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species, and it is listed in CITES Appendix I. The principal threats to its existence are deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and hunting pressure.
This lemur is now hunted for bushmeat, but humans are not the only threat.
Coquerel's sifaka is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Coquerel's sifaka, Wikidata item Q1131678. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
