Andohahela National Park, in southeast
MadagascarThe Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, is remarkable for the extremes of habitats that are representened within it. The park covers 760 square kilometers of the
Anosy-Introduction:Anosy is a region in southeastern Madagascar. It borders Androy region in west, Atsimo-Andrefana in north-west, Ihorombe in north and Atsimo-Atsinanana in north-east. This region runs from approximately Manantenina in the northeast corner of the region, west to Ranomafana, west to...
mountain range, the southernmost spur of the Malagasy Highlands. These mountains form a natural barrier to the moist
trade windThe trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator...
s that blow from the east, causing a rainfall of 1500 to 2000mm per year on their eastern side that supports one of the few rainforests south of the tropic of Capricorn. At the western edge of the park, the rainfall is just 600 to 700mm per year and the resulting vegetation is a dry
spiny forestThe Madagascar spiny thickets is an ecoregion in Madagascar. The vegetation type is found on poor substrates with low, erratic winter rainfall. An estimated 14,000 to is covered with this habitat, all in the southwest of the country...
characteristic of southern Madagascar. In the area between these two climatic extremes is a unique transitional forest known as the Ranopiso transition, which is characterised by the locally endemic triangular palm,
Dypsis decaryi.
The variety of habitats within Andohahela is mirrored in the richness of species that are found there. Fifteen species of
lemurLemurs are a clade of strepsirrhine primates endemic to the island of Madagascar. They are named after the lemures of Roman mythology due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species...
have been recorded, including two of Madagascar's most emblematic species, the
Ring-tailed LemurThe ring-tailed lemur is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families. It is the only member of the Lemur genus. Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar...
and
Verreaux's SifakaVerreaux's sifaka , or 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...
.
Several circuits within each of the habitat types of the park can be accessed by road from the town of
TolagnaroTôlanaro or Tolagnaro is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of Anosy Region and of Tôlanaro District. It has a port of local importance, and a new port has been built at Ehoala...
. Detailed information on arranging trips is available from the tourism information office or from the Madagascar National Parks Association (PNM-ANGAP)office in Tolagnaro.
List of lemur species found in Andohahela National Park
| Location |
Habitat Type |
Species |
| Malio (Parcel 1) |
Rain forest |
Day viewing:
- Collared Brown Lemur
The collared brown lemur , also known as the red-collared brown lemur or red-collared lemur, is a medium-sized strepsirrhine primate and one of twelve species of brown lemur in the Lemuridae family. It is only found in south-eastern Madagascar. Like most species of lemur, it is arboreal, moving...
(Eulemur collaris)
- Southern Lesser Bamboo Lemur
The southern lesser bamboo lemur , also known as the southern bamboo lemur, rusty-gray bamboo lemur, and southern gentle lemur, is species of bamboo lemur endemic to southern Madagascar near Tôlanaro. It was originally proposed as a subspecies of the eastern lesser bamboo lemur and is of similar size...
(Hapalemur meridionalis)
- Milne-Edwards' Sifaka
Milne-Edwards' sifaka , or Milne-Edwards' simpona, is a large arboreal, diurnal lemur endemic to the eastern coastal rainforest of Madagascar. Milne-Edwards' sifaka is characterized by a black body with a light-colored "saddle" on the lower part of its back. It is closely related to the diademed...
(Propithecus edwardsi) – not confirmed
Night viewing:
- Fleurete's Sportive Lemur
Fleurete's sportive lemur , or Andohahela sportive lemur, is a sportive lemur endemic to Madagascar. It is a medium sized sportive lemur with a total length of about 58 to 67 centimeters, of which about 30 centimeters are tail Fleurete's sportive lemur is found in southeastern Madagascar, living...
(Lepilemur fleuretae)
- unidentified species of mouse lemur
The mouse lemurs are nocturnal lemurs of the genus Microcebus. Like all lemurs, mouse lemurs are native to Madagascar.Mouse lemurs have a combined head, body and tail length of less than , making them the smallest primates ; however, their weight fluctuates in response to daylight duration.Mouse...
(Microcebus) - not confirmed
- unidentified species of fork-marked lemur (Phaner) - not confirmed
- Aye-aye
The aye-aye is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth and a special thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker...
(Daubentonia madagascariensis) - not confirmed |
| Ihazofotsy (Parcel 2) |
Spiny forest |
Day viewing:
- Ring-tailed Lemur
The ring-tailed lemur is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families. It is the only member of the Lemur genus. Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar...
(Lemur catta)
- Verreaux's Sifaka
Verreaux's sifaka , or 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...
(Propithecus verreauxi)
Night viewing:
- Gray Mouse Lemur
The gray mouse lemur , or lesser mouse lemur, is a small lemur, a type of strepsirrhine primate, found only on the island of Madagascar. Weighing , it is the largest of the mouse lemurs , a group which include the smallest primates in the world...
(Microcebus murinus)
- Reddish-gray Mouse Lemur
The reddish-gray mouse lemur also known as the gray-brown mouse lemur or rufous-gray mouse lemur, is found in Western Madagascar in the region around Beza Mahafaly Reserve, north to Lamboharana....
(Microcebus griseorufus)
- White-footed Sportive Lemur
The white-footed sportive lemur , or white-footed weasel lemur, is a species of lemur in the Lepilemuridae family. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss....
(Lepilemur leucopus)
- Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur
The fat-tailed dwarf lemur , also known as the lesser dwarf lemur, western fat-tailed dwarf lemur, or spiny forest dwarf lemur, is one of the smallest primates. It is endemic to Madagascar....
(Cheirogaleus medius) |
| Tsimelahy (Parcel 3) |
Transitional forest |
few lemurs (not documented) |
External links
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