Where to see lemurs in Madagascar

If lemurs are the de facto symbol of Madagascar, the ring-tailed lemur is the most symbolic of all. These sociable, sun loving creatures are certainly one of the most easily recognisable, thanks to their striped tails which they hold aloft as they walk along the ground to help keep their troop together. They can also be seen sitting cross legged in the sunshine, like little furry yogis. Some wild groups are habituated, which can make for very close encounters indeed.

The best places to see ring-tailed lemurs are Berenty Reserve, where they are habituated, and Isalo National Park.

You could be forgiven for not realising that this frankly weird looking creature was a lemur; it shares none of the cuddly-looking characteristics of its cute cousins. But the world’s largest nocturnal primate is, indeed, a lemur – with its enormous yellow eyes, long, twig-like middle finger which is used to forage for bugs, and rodent-like teeth. Unfortunately, their resemblance to monsters has not gone unnoticed by the local population, who have incorporated them into their system of cultural taboos, known as fady. These taboos say that the aye-aye is an evil spirit that can kill people by using their long fingers to point at them – or even to pierce their hearts. Sadly, this has resulted in many aye-ayes being killed on sight, and they are classified as endangered.

You can take night walks to look for aye-ayes on Nosy Mangabe – also known as Aye-Aye Island – as well as in Ranomafana and Ankarafantsika National Parks.