Wild Silky Sifakas

Wild Silky Sifakas one of the top 25 most endangered primates in the world. Silky sifakas live in fused multi-male, multi-female groups of 2 – 9 individuals, with adults weighing up 7kg. They are diurnal, folivorous seed-predators that acrobatically travel via vertical clinging and leaping. As in other Malagasy primates, there is no adult sexual dimorphism in body size. However, adult males possess a striking brown chest patch or throat patch which is the result of male sternal-gular scentmarking and can be considered a ‘behaviorally sexually dichromatic’ trait. Although rates of intra-group agonism are extremely low, females appear to have priority over males during feeding contexts (‘female feeding priority’). Like other lemurs, silky sifakas exhibit strict reproductive seasonality where females are believed to be receptive for at most a few days of the year, giving birth on average to one infant every two years.