Indri

=**Indri**=



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Ecology **

Indris are vegetarian. They feed mainly on the fruits, leaves, and flowers of trees. Sometimes they feed on ground vegetation. There diet is herbivore. Indris are strictly active during day light hours lasting between 5-10 hours, and the periods get longer when summer comes around. Feeding consists of most of there activity almost half of it actually.

They most they do is consume food everyday from fruits, seeds or leaves and besides that they are not very active species. They do not have any real predetors at all in the Madagascar region where they have most of the population. The main threat to there survivall is slash and burn agriculture. Forests are being cut down for timber and for fuel as human population increaces at a rapid pace. Conservation of this species is a must or it will be extinct give or take in a 100 years.

Indris are found only on Madagascar but restricted to a north/south strip of the island. They are found in tropical rainforest or humid forests. Indris can be found all the way from sea level to an altitude of 1800 meters.

=Physiology=

Indri is considered to be the largest of the surviving lemur species. Each individuals weight is between 7 to 11 kg when fully matured. Now the length of the head and body is 60 to 90 cm. They also have a tail which goes as long as 6cm. Indris have a long legs, short arms, tufted ears. They have patterns of gray, brown, black and white found on there body. There feet and hands are very large. One thing is females weigh more then males and all indris have yellow eyes and large black ears. There feet are about one third longer than their arms and are able to propel them through the forest canopy in an upright position over distances of up to ten meters. The feet and arms are large so they can climb the trees easily by grabbing it and also run through the forest floor. Also there toes are big so they can get a good grip on the tree branches when they are eating food and so they do not fall down with a good grip.

Indris breed seasonally, with individual females producing one offspring every 2 to 3 years. Most births occur around May. The young stay with there mothers for about 6 months and they are let to go independent at about 8 months. Female reproduction occurs when they have reached age 7-9 years of age. The current lifespan for indris are not known but calculating from other lemurs the estimate of indris are able to live up to 25 to 40 years in captivity.

=Conservation=

Indris at this point is considered to be an endangered species. The one problem is that its slow reproduction rate does not help its cause for more of a population of this species. Each female produces one new baby every two to three years so the repopulation of the species is slower then expected. Also Indri have never been bred successfully in captivity so protecting this species is very crucial that they are not lost forever. Magagascar is the only place Indri lives and and the expanding human population is making it hard to even preserve land for this species at all. Locals think of this species as sacred animal but others eat it for food if nesessary and outsiders try to kill it to sell outside of country for profit. Parts of the rain forest are protected or preserved for this species to be safe of harm and more destruction but that is not stopping locals from cutting those trees down to make room for the growing population. Destruction happens by cutting down the wood for lumber usage, fuel usage or just to burn the place down or something new to built there. There is not a lot there to protect this species even being considered an endagered species since 2007.

Citiation

 * Lundrigan, Dr. Barbara, and Crystal Katopol. "ADW: Indri Indri: Information." //Animal Diversity Web//. Web. 11 May 2010. [].
 * "Indri - Indri Indri - Information - ARKive." //ARKive - Discover the World's Most Endangered Species//. Web. 11 May 2010. [].
 * "Indri - Characteristics, Habitat & Breeding." //Nature Pictures & Cute Animal Photos - The Nature Guide//. Web. 11 May 2010. [].
 * "Indri." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 11 May 2010. [].