CathyCA wrote:The only lemurs I've seen have been in captivity, so I'm also wondering how they behave in the wild, in their native habitat. Do they approach you? Do they run away from you like the squirrels and bunny rabbits when you approach them in the back yard? I could never get a good picture of one--stupid cage wire obscures the lemur, and I observed that many kept their backs to us as we toured the facility. Do they hide from you? Are they good at camouflage? Some of them are very small. I'm wondering how you're able to get an accurate count of the lemurs, and how you're able to take their pictures.
You really don't want them to approach you, unless you know for sure that they are not hunted. And you also don't want them to change their behavior in your presence. If you want to study their behavior, you select a proper site where you can control the hunting issue. Then you find your group, and follow them continuously, until they accept you. If the group gets used to you in 5-10 minutes, you have a GOOD habitat. We were lucky when I started my work 20 yuears ago. 5-15 minutes to have the lemurs used to your presence, without changing their behavior. Some of my friends tell me it takes them 4 months to get their primates habituated to their presence. Gorillas are even harder to habituate.
To give you a feel of how habituated they are at my field site, on ILJ's first day out with me in 1991, she was eating her lunch while a juvenile crowned lemur just slept a few inches above her shoulder.
Some lemurs are quite small (at 1.5 kg, crowned lemurs are among the smallest of the Lemur/Eulemur species), but you get used to their habits, and look for specific things they do. You can find them. But there's no guarantee that they will get habituated to you, and that means LITTLE chance of getting good photos.
As for getting counts, at my field site, I could habituate each group without any trouble. After that, it's a matter of recognizing each face in the forest. If you're used to portrait photography, you can do this. So at my site, I could get accurate counts.
In survey work, it's a whole 'nother ball game. If you go into each forest, it's really hit or miss if you'll find a group, and you may be wasting good opportunities to find total numbers of groups. And in the case of crowned lemurs, at this time of the year, they often spend much of the day in very small subgroups. I actually am using a technique that doesn't involve going into each forest to see them. Both species I study make distinct dusk calls that carry a good distance. Basically, I set up at the end of the day in an open area near the forest where I can get maximum forest coverage. I then listen, and can pretty much pinpoint where the groups are. Armed with a rough idea what average group size is, I can make a rough estimate of a population, but not entirely with the greatest precision. On the other hand, I don't disturb the forest, I can move rapidly from one forest to another, and state where the lemurs are with more accuracy. I can also devote more time to describing the forest habitat, and spend time finding out local people's perspectives on things.
Whoops... I better save the thorough description of this for a scientific paper.
Cheers,
Lavabe
2014, 2011, and 2009 Lemur Loving CTN NASCAR Champ. No lasers were used to win these titles.
Oh yeah, the 4-day festival starts three days after I leave.
