Free Teacher Resources
A white Coquerel's sifaka with brown patches clinging to a tree trunk.
Photo: Olivier Lejade, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Coquerel's Sifaka

Propithecus coquereli

A white-and-brown lemur of northwestern Madagascar that leaps between trees and hops sideways on the ground.

🐒 Lemurs
Checking teacher reviews…
Teacher? Sign in to review this page →Report a mistake

About the Coquerel's Sifaka

Coquerel's sifakas live in dry forests and coastal mangroves of northwestern Madagascar. They are mostly white with brown patches on the chest, arms and thighs, a bare black face and yellow eyes. Long, powerful legs let them leap 20 to 30 feet from tree to tree. On the ground they hop upright on two legs with their arms out. They eat mostly leaves, plus fruit, flowers, seeds and bark.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Propithecus coquereli[1]
Lifespan
25 to 30 years.[1]
Diet
Mostly leaves, plus fruit, flowers, seeds and bark.[1]
Habitat
Dry deciduous and mixed forest, and coastal mangroves.[1]
Where it lives
Northwestern Madagascar.[1]
Group life
Groups of 3 to 10, led by females. Active during the day.[1]
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List, assessed 2018).[2]

Fun facts

  • Sifakas can leap 20 to 30 feet from tree to tree.[1]
  • On the ground, sifakas hop sideways on two legs with their arms out.[1]
  • The name "sifaka" comes from the "shif-auk" sound they make.[1]
  • The lemur on the TV show Zoboomafoo is a Coquerel's sifaka.[1]

Vocabulary

lemur
A primate found in the wild only on Madagascar.
vertical clinging and leaping
Moving by holding onto tree trunks upright and jumping between them.
mangrove
A tree or swamp forest that grows in salty water along tropical coasts.
matriarchal
Led by females.
critically endangered
A conservation label meaning a species faces an extremely high risk of dying out in the wild.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. “Coquerel's sifaka.” https://www.sfzoo.org/coquerels-sifaka/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Propithecus coquereli (Coquerel's Sifaka).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/18355/115572275 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

More Lemurs

A black-and-white ruffed lemur with golden eyes resting on a branch.Black-and-White Ruffed LemurVarecia variegataThe largest lemur, a critically endangered fruit-eater of eastern Madagascar's rainforests that raises its babies in nests.A crowned lemur peering out from between tree trunks.Crowned LemurEulemur coronatusA small, fruit-eating lemur of northern Madagascar whose males and females look so different they were once easy to tell apart at a glance.A red ruffed lemur with a black face and tail standing on grass.Red Ruffed LemurVarecia rubraA critically endangered orange-red lemur with a black face and a thick neck ruff, found only on Madagascar's Masoala Peninsula.A gray-brown red-fronted brown lemur clinging to a tree.Red-Fronted Brown LemurEulemur rufifronsA fruit-eating Madagascar lemur whose males and females are different colors, and one of the few lemurs not led by females.A ring-tailed lemur drinking from a pond with its black-and-white striped tail raised.Ring-Tailed LemurLemur cattaAn endangered primate of southwestern Madagascar with a black-and-white striped tail, female-led troops and a love of sunbathing.