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A red ruffed lemur with a black face and tail standing on grass.
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Red Ruffed Lemur

Varecia rubra

A critically endangered orange-red lemur with a black face and a thick neck ruff, found only on Madagascar's Masoala Peninsula.

🐒 Lemurs
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About the Red Ruffed Lemur

Red ruffed lemurs live only in the tropical forests of the Masoala Peninsula in Madagascar. They weigh 7 to 10 pounds and are 1.5 to 2 feet long, with thick orange-red coats and black bellies, hands, feet and tails. They eat mostly fruit, plus leaves, flowers, nectar and seeds. They use at least 12 different sounds to warn each other about snakes, eagles, fossas and people.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Varecia rubra[2]
Size
1.5 to 2 feet long.[1]
Weight
7 to 10 pounds.[1]
Lifespan
15 to 20 years in the wild.[1]
Diet
Mostly fruit, plus leaves, flowers, nectar and seeds.[1]
Habitat
Tropical forest.[1]
Where it lives
The Masoala Peninsula of Madagascar.[1]
Group life
Groups of two to ten, usually a pair and their young.[1]
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN Red List, assessed 2018).[2]

Fun facts

  • Red ruffed lemurs use at least 12 different warning sounds.[1]
  • A river separates red ruffed lemurs from black-and-white ruffed lemurs.[1]
  • Keepers tell them apart by small differences in coat color and nose markings.[1]

Vocabulary

ruff
A thick collar of fur around the neck.
lemur
A primate found in the wild only on Madagascar.
tooth comb
A row of thin lower front teeth that lemurs use to groom.
crepuscular
Most active at dawn and dusk.
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. “Red Ruffed Lemur.” https://www.sfzoo.org/red-ruffed-lemur/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Varecia rubra (Red Ruffed Lemur).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22920/115574598 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.

More Lemurs

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