Description
Also known as the Babakoto, meaning ‘ancestor of man’, the indri are surrounded by taboo. Many Malagasy believe the indri resemble their sacred ancestors, therefore traditionally they refrain from eating them.  This affords these lemurs a certain degree of protection.

Like other lemurs, they evolved from smaller species which came to Madagascar from  mainland Africa 50 million years ago. Diurnal tree-dwellers, related to the sifakas, indri are the largest lemurs in existence.  Able to run up at speeds of up to twenty miles per hour, they also sing to communicate with others of the species.  Colours range from black to shades of brown with white patches. They move across the canopy by taking huge, graceful bounds of up to thirty feet.

They live in small groups and bonds between the individuals run deep.  In-fighting is rarely known.  Indri lemurs pair for life.  After mating,  the gestation period lasts sixty…