Critically Endangered
Silky sifaka
Propithecus candidus
The silky sifaka is a large lemur characterized by long, silky, white fur.
Appearance
As its common English name suggests, its long, white fur has a silky texture. Not all individuals are completely white: some have silver-gray or black tints on the crown, back, and limbs. The base of the tail ("pygal region") can be yellow.
The silky sifaka is one of the largest sifaka species, with a head-body length of 48–54 cm (1.6–1.8 ft), a tail length of 45–51 cm (1.5–1.7 ft), a total length of 93–105 cm (3.1–3.4 ft), and a weight of 5–6.5 kg (11–14 lb).
Range and habitat
The silky sifaka is confined to a small region of northeastern Madagascar within a strip of humid forest stretching from Maroantsetra in the south to the Andapa Basin and the Marojejy Massif in the north. Marojejy National Park represents the northern limit of its current distribution, although historical sifaka range maps created by Grandidier and Milne-Edwards in the late 19th century show the silky sifaka as far north as the Bemarivo River, north of Sambava. The Androranga River may represent the northwestern range limit within the Tsaratanana Corridor.
The species is only found within a few protected areas in the rainforests of northeastern Madagascar, with the majority of the remaining population in Marojejy National Park and Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve. Plans are being made to both expand Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve and link existing parks and reserves in the region with wildlife corridors.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
Other sources report that the species divides half of the day between traveling and foraging, while the rest is spent resting. Daily foraging usually starts at dawn unless delayed by rain.
Group movement is usually led by females, and groups usually travel 700 m (2,300 ft) per day, and may climb 500 m (1,600 ft) along vertical slopes. It is a seasonal breeder and only mates one day a year during the start of the rainy season.
In crisis
The silky sifaka has a variable social structure, and lives in groups of two to nine individuals. According to the most recent IUCN Red List assessment, the silky sifaka is critically endangered. It is one of the rarest and most critically endangered lemurs.
Its population size is estimated to range between 100 and 1,000 individuals, while the number of mature individuals is thought to be less than 250. Illegal logging of precious hardwoods, such as rosewood and ebony, has become one of the greatest threats to the silky sifaka's habitat, especially since the 2009 Malagasy political crisis.
Silky 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 Silky sifaka, Wikidata item Q763853. 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.
