Territorial Northern black-and-white ruffed lemur, Nosy Mangabe - rotating, Madagascar
We've been observing these peaceful, endangered lemurs on the island of Nosy Mangabe for 20 minutes or so. We had some photos, they were in a state of rest, so we were packing up to move on. Then, like the flip of a switch they go into absolute panic mode. Violent screams, trees shaking, truly aggressive behavior.
As it turns out, completely out of our sight they detected a rival group, and they were being very clear on where their territory begins. We were caught in the middle, lucky and fascinated. I'm sharing several shots just because it was an awe-inspiring moment for us.
This photo (compared with other shots in the series) shows that they express their calls in every direction, making sure it is not missed. If you look closely, in the bottom jaw you can see a special very wide tooth, which they use to carve markers of their territory boundaries on tree trunks.
Full series, in order:
The Northern black-and-white ruffed lemur, also called the White-belted black-and-white ruffed lemur, is one of three subspecies of the Black-and-white ruffed lemur. It is found furthest to the north of the three subspecies.
