Social Behaviors of Ring-Tailed Lemurs (Interactions Between Lemurs and Items that Resemble the Species) By: Julia Bumberry

Background Ring-tailed lemurs are endemic to the island of Madagascar Ring-tailed lemurs are near threatened Large strepsirhini primate Average lifespan is 16-19 in wild and 27 in captivity

Background (cont.) One of the most popular zoo animals Extremely social animals and live in large groups Very vocal with multiple calls Scent marking is an important form of communication

Objectives How will Ring-tailed lemurs interact with items that resemble other ring-tailed lemurs? Are Lemurs more likely to interact with something based on whether it looks, smells, or sounds like another lemur?

Methods Perform three tests: Item that looks like a ring-tailed lemur Item that has the scent of a ring-tailed lemur Item that sounds like a ring-tailed lemur

Resources Possible field work cites: Dickerson Park Zoo Tulsa Zoo St. Louis Zoo