Delight at Madagascan Lemur Birth Panda Gives Birth

Keepers at the Port Lympne Animal Park were absolutely over the moon when female Bamboo Lemur Belle gave birth on Tuesday 17th July 2012. Amazingly, the keepers can’t tell what gender the baby is yet as it’s too small, so no name have been chosen yet.

Greater bamboo lemurs are also known as Madagascan pandas, due to the fact they only eat bamboo! Due to mass deforestation, their natural habitat is slowly being destroying, putting them on the critically endangered list. The beautiful animals are also hunted by humans, taking their numbers down to as little as 500 left in the wild, making them one of the rarest animals in the world.

Head Primate Keeper, Simon Jeffery said –

We are absolutely delighted that Manantena, or Belle, as we call her, and her partner, Zig have a new baby. They are a lovely family unit and Belle is a brilliant first time mum. These wonderful animals are critically endangered in the wild and there are only 22 in collections around the world and this is the third birth in captivity this year, so it’s very special. Sadly this species is critically endangered due to the loss of bamboo, the primary food source of the greater bamboo lemur. The bamboo lemur is one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world, so breeding programmes like ours are vital to ensure that this wonderful animal survives.

The Aspinall Foundation has been carrying out surveys in Madagascar to help establish the number of greater bamboo lemurs left in the wild. The work was recently featured in an ITV1 Documentary with Martin Clunes, called ‘The Lemurs of Madagascar.’