Bamboo lemurs feed primarily on the bamboo of Madagascar.
The Greater Bamboo Lemur is one of the world's top 25 most endangered primates, according to the Primate Specialist Group's website. The lemur inhabits part of Madagascar, an island nation off the coast of Africa. This small primate primarily feeds upon bamboo, which may be contributing to its decline in population.
Bamboo
According to the Primate Specialist Group, bamboo consists of 95 percent of the Greater Bamboo Lemur's diet. This small primate feeds upon the shoots, young leaves, mature leaves and pith of the bamboo plant. Only a few animals in the world sustain a bamboo-centric diet. The giant panda, red panda and bamboo rats also eat a diet primarily made up of bamboo, according to the Animal Info website.
Other Foods
While the majority of the Greater Bamboo Lemur's diet consists of bamboo, they occasionally feed upon other foods. According to Stony Brook University's Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (ICTE) website, these animals also eat bamboo grass, fruit, soil and mushrooms. These foods make up less than five percent of their total diet.
Lethal Diet
The bamboo lemur family feeds most often upon a specific type of bamboo: Giant Bamboo. According to the ICTE website, this type of bamboo produces poisonous cyanide. Cyanide is lethal to most animals, but bamboo lemurs can feed upon massive quantities of the plant with no adverse effects. According to Cornell University's Animal Science Department's website, zoologists do not know why the cyanide does not effect bamboo lemurs. High concentrations of cyanide are found in the fecal matter of the lemur.
Threats to Population
The harvesting of bamboo is one of the major threats to the bamboo lemur population. According to Primate Specialist Group's website, the bamboo lemur used to be found throughout Madagascar and now can only be found in small portions of the bamboo forests. This is primarily due to slash-and-burn agriculture and illegal logging of bamboo. Since the animals cannot survive without bamboo, there are now fewer than 1,000 bamboo lemurs in the world, according to Animal Info.
Protected Forests
The Primate Specialist Group suggests that the best chance for preventing the extinction of bamboo lemurs is to extend protected forests in Madagascar. Today, many of the surviving lemur populations live in the protected forests, where logging and hunting are prohibited.
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