photo 130
Anja Reserve, South of Ambalavao is a great place to see and get close to Ring-Tailed lemurs. After hiking on a rocky and dry forested path, we came across a colony of about 30 or 40 ring-tailed lemurs including moms carrying babies on their backs. We saw one mom with two babies - twins! The lemurs were heading somewhere by hopping through the trees, jumping to the ground, hopping back up, and giving us a single glance as they headed by looking for food.
When I spotted the mom with the two babies, she was sitting at the top of a tree branch. The babies were hopping onto her back, off again to find food, and then back on. She had only one of the babies on her back when she decided to come down the branch and drop to the ground. The baby that was left behind looked alarmed. I don't know if it called for her or if she just felt like her back was a little too light. She eventually turned around to see her anxious baby looking at her. She turned to go back and get the baby, but noticed a male on a branch on a nearby tree. The male was staring at the stranded baby and must have looked menacing enough that the mom jumped from her branch to his branch with one baby still on her back. She hissed and scared him off. Once the male left, she jumped back over to the stranded baby on the other tree who immediately jumped on her back next to his sibling.
This mother is telling the male to keep his distance:
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Ring-Tailed lemur with a baby that is looking around:
photo 131
Ring-Tailed mom with a baby that is eating leaves while sitting on his mothers back:
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Ring-Tailed mom carrying a baby while climbing in a tree:
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Ring-Tailed mom carrying a baby while walking in a tree:
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A very adorable baby:
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Lemur watching us:
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Lemur sitting on a rock:
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Mother with baby on the ground:
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Lemur getting ready to play with others:
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Another mother and baby sitting on a rock:
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This beautiful camouflaged chameleon has a coloring similar to the trees and to the Ring-Tailed lemurs. This might be the Malagasy giant chameleon.
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This is probably a Pontera chameleon:
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I do not rember the name of this lizard:
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© 2017 Jeffrey Pawlan