Home Range Size and Social Organization of the Sahamalaza Sportive Lemur, Lepilemur sahamalazensis

Abstract

Knowledge of a species' social organization and spatial needs is essential to set up effective conservation measures. To date, there have been published studies on the home range size and social organization of only three of the 26 sportive lemur species currently recognized; there is no information available for the remaining 23. We studied home range size and social organization for the first time in the Critically Endangered Sahamalaza sportive lemur (Lepilemur sahamalazensis) by following eight radio-tagged individuals for 666 hours. Observations were made at night, recording interactions between them and the distances they travelled. Home ranges covered 0.38 ha and there was no overlap between adult individuals; nightly ranges were about 0.1 ha. Almost no social interactions were seen, and the very few observed sociopositive interactions took place between mother and kin, as suggested by size differences and diurnal observations. The small number of individuals observed makes conclusive inferences about the social organization of L. sahamalazensis difficult to make, but the low level of social interaction and cohesiveness shown indicates little social complexity and the possibility that they are essentially solitary.