Surprise birth of endangered black lemur at Bioparc Fuengirola

There has been a surprise birth of an endangered black lemur at Bioparc Fuengirola. It happened a few weeks ago and is the sixth baby that the couple Benji and Lordes have had. Sadly the father died of cancer in February.

These two lemurs had been living in the Costa del Sol animal park and conservation centre since 2001, when they arrived from Cologne Zoo in Germany and Parco Natura Viva in Italy.

For the moment, the sex of the little one is unknown. The baby has a greyish coat and, when it is not on her lap, the mother leaves it in a nest, normally in a hole in a tree.

As it grows, the differences will be noticeable as the black lemur is a species that has a marked sexual dimorphism, that is, male and female are different externally, Bioparc said in a statement.

"It will take a few months before the colour of their fur begins to change. The female adopts a coppery colour, while the male remains black," said Jesús Recuero, technical and veterinary director at Bioparc Fuengirola.

According to the records provided by the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), these black lemurs (Eulemur macaco) are in danger of extinction. There is no exact count of the number of this species – found in the wild only the island of Madagascar –where the lemurs are restricted to a small area in the north of the island. Almost all lemur species are endemic to this island and of the approximately 100 that exist, almost all are threatened.

In Europe, there are a total of 160 specimens in more than 50 animal parks under the coordination of the European Exsitu Programme (EEP) for these lemurs. One of them is Bioparc Fuengirola, which has been involved in the protection and conservation of the black lemur since 2001 and is currently one of the parks that houses this species in Spain.

The Bioparc Foundation contributes to the financing of the AEECL Association that promotes the conservation of lemurs in the northwest of Madagascar which led to the protection and creation of a new National Park in Sahamalaza, where several species of lemur live, including the black lemur.