At a Glance
Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur holds the title of world’s smallest primate. Their bodies are typically between 9 and 9.5 centimeters (3 to 3.5 inches) long, but their tails are between 13 and 14 centimeters (five and 5.5 inches) long! This lemur only lives in Menabe in Western Madagascar. They are nocturnal and solitary, though they will sometimes sleep near other mouse lemurs. At night these lemurs primarily eat sugary secretions left by the larvae of flower bugs, but they will also eat arthropods and smaller vertebrates, including geckos and chameleons.
The biggest threat to Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemurs is destruction of their dry forest habitat by slash and burn agriculture. The Kirindy Forest, possibly the last place where the lemur survives in the wild, is also under threat from harvesting trees for charcoal production and illegal logging. Without quick action to help the species recover, Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur could be one of the first lemur species to go extinct in the 21st century.
At a glance
Taxa
Mammals
Geography
Madagascar
Status
Critically Endangered
Habitat
Dry deciduous forest
Estimated Population
About 8,000 individuals
Threats
Habitat loss from slash-and-burn agriculture; charcoal production; illegal logging
Potential Recovery Actions
Population surveys; habitat protection; restoration; sustainable livelihoods
