Wildlife of Madagascar
For most people, finding wildlife (especially lemurs) is the most important reason for tourists to visit this country. There are many endemic species, which makes this a fantastic island for wildlife enthusiasts. To get to know these animals, I made this page. I will have a short fact about the species and then the parks that are good places to find the species. I will only talk about species that I have seen myself.
Diurnal lemurs
Ring-tailed lemur
Probably the most famous lemur in the country, it is always a treat to find as its tails are very cool. They are more on the ground than other lemurs, which means that you can get very close to them. The species became even more famous, because of King Julian in the movie Madagascar.
Top parks to find the species: Anja Community Reserve, Berenty
Other parks to find the species:Isalo, Tsaranoro Valley
Indri
This is the biggest lemur species alive, and it can weigh up to 7 kilograms. It is possible to hear their sound from a distance of 4 kilometres. They look like a mixture of a koala and a panda. Finding indris is one of the highlights of your trip to Madagascar.
Top parks to find the species: VOIMMA, Anamalazoatra
Other parks to find the species: Mitsinjo, Mantadia
Decken's sifaka
Decken's sifakas are the most classic sifakas. They can jump very far, which makes them very interesting to find and observe. They are not found in many regions, but in the park where they are, they can be pretty easily visible.
Top parks to find the species: Tsingy de Bemaraha
Other parks to find the species: -
Coquerel's sifaka
The Coquerel's sifaka has more colour on its legs and ears than the Decken's sifaka. They are diurnal and can be seen in groups of around 3 to 8 individuals.
Top park to find the species: Ankarafantsika
Other parks to find the species: -
Verreaux's sifaka
This is probably the most famous sifaka, because they dance when they move on the ground. This sight is rare, but amazing. They can be distinguished by the brown top of their heads.
Top parks to find the species: Kirindy Forest, Berenty (I have not been)
Other parks to find the species: Isalo, Zombitse
Diademed sifaka
This is the sifaka with the most different colours. The individuals are pretty big and are in a group of around 7. They can move very fast, so pay attention when you see these amazing creatures.
Top parks to find the species: Analamazaotra
Other parks to find the species: Mantadia, VOIMMA, Mitsinjo
Black and white ruffed lemur
The black and white ruffed lemur is one of my personal favorite lemurs to find. They are big, active, and beautiful primates, which is very noticeable with their colours. Finding them is a great treasure.
Top parks to find the species: Nosy Mangabe
Other parks to find the species: Mantadia, Ranomafana
Red ruffed lemur
The red-ruffed lemur is my favorite lemur, and the red colour in the green canopy makes it a great sight to observe this interesting species. There is a good chance you heard them before you saw them, as they shouted a lot. The species is endemic to Masoala.
Top parks to find the species: Masoala
Other parks to find the species: -
Rufous brown lemur
These nice lemurs live in western Madagascar. They are mostly in groups of around nine individuals and are active during the day. They weigh around 2-2.5 kilograms.
Top parks to find the species: Tsingy de Bemaraha
Other parks to find the species: -
Red-fronted brown lemurs
This brown lemur can adapt to many ecosystems and lives in dry forests, rainforests, and desert-like environments. They live in groups of around 10 individuals. I really enjoy their cute sounds, which sound a bit like a pig to me.
Top parks to find the species: Ranomafana, Kirindy Forest
Other parks to find the species: Isalo, Zombitse
Common brown lemur
This lemur is a pretty brown lemur and can be found in several ecosystems on Madagascar. They can also make the funny sound of pigs. They weigh between 2 and 3 kilograms.
Top parks to find the species: Analamazaotra
Other parks to find the species: Ankarafantsika, Mantadia, Mitsinjo
White-fronted brown lemur
White-fronted brown lemurs are very fun-looking lemurs, and the males have very white heads. They live in rainforests and in groups of around 8–10 individuals. They are diurnal and can be very active during the day.
Top parks to find the species: Nosy Mangabe, Masoala
Other parks to find the species: Farankaraina
Sanford's brown lemur
Sanford's brown lemurs are the most northern brown lemurs. The males have noticeable white manes. The species lives in the same groups as all the other brown lemurs and is a bit difficult to find.
Top parks to find the species: Ankarana
Other parks to find the species: Amber Mountain
Black lemur
Although the females are brown and white, the males of the black lemurs are completely black. They are the only diurnal lemur species in Nosy be, and they are endemic to the area. It is very interesting to find these great lemurs
Top parks to find the species: Lokobe
Other parks to find the species: -
Lesser bamboo lemurs
These small animals are very cute members of the lemur family. The bamboo lemurs are pretty small but can be found in bamboo forests as they eat the bamboo. They can be alone or in small groups in several places on the island. The lesser bamboo lemurs I saw were the Eastern lesser bamboo lemur (see picture) and the Western lesser bamboo lemur.
Eastern lesser bamboo lemur
Top parks to find the species: Analamazaotra
Other parks to find the species: Mantadia, Mitsinjo, Ranomafana
Western lesser bamboo lemur
Top parks to find the species: Farankaraina
Other parks to find the species: Not sure, but maybe Marojejy.
Golden bamboo lemur
The threshold species of Ranomafana National Park is the golden bamboo lemur, which is endemic to this region. The golden colour is impressive, and seeing this species in Ranomafana is a treasure.
Top parks to find the species: Ranomafana
Other parks to find the species: -
Crowned lemur
Crowned lemurs were fantastic lemurs to find. They are beautiful, active lemurs, and they can be in smaller groups. They mostly live in forests with some dense habitat.
Top parks to find the species: Ankarana
Other parks to find the species: Amber Mountain
Red-bellied lemur
Red-bellied lemurs are a small species of lemurs that have a high sexual dimorphism. They live in groups of around 4 individuals in rainforests in Central and East Madagascar.
Top parks to find the species: Ranomafana, Mantadia
Other parks to find the species: Mitsinjo, Analamazaotra
Nocturnal lemurs
Aye aye
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of this elusive animal, but observing the biggest nocturnal lemur was an amazing experience. They are present in almost every part of the country, but finding them is often a very tough task.
Top parks to find the species: Farankaraina
Other parks to find the species: Nosy Mangabe
Mouse lemurs
Mouse lemurs live on the entire island and can be found during almost every night hike. They move very fast, and seeing them relax is a rare sight. There are 25 lemur species, and depending on where you are, mouse lemurs will be present. I only found 2 mouse lemurs during the day in Lokobe and Kirindy.
Top parks to find the species: Kirindy Forest, Masoala, Nosy Mangabe, Ankarafantsika
Other parks to find the species: Tsingy de Bemaraha, Lokobe (day time), Farankaraina, Ranomafana, Mitsinjo
Dwarf lemurs
There are 10 species of fat-tailed dwarf lemurs, and they are tougher to find than mouse lemurs, although they are bigger. They are mostly gray and can be found in the canopy.
Top parks to find the species: Farankaraina, Masoala, Nosy Mangabe
Other parks to find the species: Ranomafana, Ankarafantsika
Woolly lemurs
However nocturnal, I only found woolly lemurs during the day. They can be lying in trees and resting. There are 9 species to find, but it can be difficult to spot them.
Top parks to find the species: Ankarafantsika
Other parks to find the species: Ranomafana, Masoala
Fork -marked lemurs
These types of lemurs look a bit like bigger squirrels. There are 4 species of fork-marked lemurs, and three species are mostly found in the North and one in the West, although they are tough to find.
Top parks to find the species: Kirindy Forest
Other parks to find the species: Tough to find and not sure where exactly.
Sportive lemurs
There are 26 sportive lemur species, and you can find them during the night and in some parks during the day. They are a bit bigger than most other nocturnal lemurs and are mostly not moving very fast, even though the name suggests something different.
Top parks to find the species: Kirindy Forest, Ankarafantsika (day and night)
Other parks to find the species: Masoala, Lokobe (day), Ankarana (day), Zombitse (day)
Other mammals
Fossa
The fossa is the biggest mammal on Madagascar, and they are the most feared hunter. You can mostly find him in Kirindy, although he is present almost everywhere. Finding him is very complicated.
Top parks to find the species: Kirindy Forest
Other parks to find the species: Andasibe area
Ring-tailed mongoose
These small carnivores are really fun to find. They can be moving very fast, and that makes the sighting often short but interesting. They hunt small lemurs and reptiles.
Top parks to find the species: Ankarana, Amber Mountain
Other parks to find the species: Masoala
Bats
Bats were in many places during my trip, and a great place to find some is the bat cave in Ankarana, with its eleven species. It is always great to find them during the night.
Top parks to find the species: Ankarana
Other parks to find the species: Nosy Mangabe
Tenrecs
There are many species and subspecies of tenrecs in Madagascar. I found only two, the Lowland streaked tenrec and the Greater Hedhehog tenrec (see picture). Tenrecs are mostly nocturnal and show very similar qualities as hedgehogs.
Top parks to find the species: Masoala
Other parks to find the species: Nosy Mangabe, and more, but I don't know where. You have to be lucky to find them.
Reptiles
Chameleons
More than half of the chameleons on the planet occur in Madagascar, and there are many species here. They are present in each park, and you can find them mostly during the night but also during the day. Their camouflage is extremely impressive, which makes it cool to find them.
Top parks to find the species: Ranomafana, Amber Mountain
Other parks to find the species: All other parks have chameleons.
Leaf-tailed geckos
Another king of camouflage are the leaf-tailed geckos. They only occur in Madagascar, and they are tough to find. They are nocturnal, but you can find them all day. Almost every park has at least one species, as there are many species in the country.
Top parks to find the species: Nosy Mangabe, Ranomafana
Other parks to find the species: Many other parks
Snakes
Although there are not many real dangerous snakes, there are many species. The tree boa and the ground boa (best found in Lokobe) are 2 of the biggest. Another common snake is the giant hognose snake. You are likely to find at least one (and maybe all) of these species, combined with some small snakes.
Top parks to find the species: Ankarafantsika
Other parks to find the species: Many other parks
Nile crocodiles
The biggest creature in Madagascar is tough to find, but there are some places you can. They feed on cows, dogs, fish, and more. They are very big animals and can be scary, but you won't be in trouble. In Ankarana, there are the only crocodiles living in caves in the world.
Top parks to find the species: Ankarafantsika
Other parks to find the species: Tsingy de Bemaraha (Manambolo river), Ankarana
Birds
Birding in Madagascar is a real treat, and you can find many different species throughout the country. The families that are entirely endemic are Vangas and Couas. For the rest, there are many other endemic species, like the Madagascar hoopoe (see picture), and other fantastic birds.
Top parks to find the species: Zombitse
Other parks to find the species: All other parks.
Frogs
There are so many frogs in every park, and seeing them is very nice. Special ones are mantellas, tomato frogs, tree frogs, and more. They can be diurnal as well as nocturnal, and you will hear them during night walks.
Top parks to find the species: Parks with rainforests.
Other parks to find the species: All other parks.
Marine wildlife
There are several places where you can go scuba diving. Other interesting things to see are the humpback whales from June to September in Antongil Bay and around Nosy Be, and the whale sharks (see above) from September to December around Nosy Be. There are many places to find fish, dolphins, and sea turtles.
Final thoughts
Madagascar is a great place for wildlife viewing. Lemurs are the main wildlife attraction to find, and they are always fun to watch as they tend to be very active. There are 110 species of lemurs to find on the island. Other animals are also worth seeing, such as the endemic tenrecs, chameleons, leaf-tailed geckos, and birds. The amount of endemic species is extremely impressive, and seeing wildlife that is nowhere in the world is great.
If you want to know more about travelling through Madagascar, check out:
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