Facility built at Zoo under BRBNMPL CSR initiative

Mysore/Mysuru: Five Ring-Tailed Lemurs (two male and three female), which were brought from Zoo Park in Czech Republic, have got a new enclosure.

The animals were let into their new enclosure for public viewing and the enclosure was inaugurated yesterday morning by Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL) Senior General Manager (PP) Harsh Kumar Manral in the presence of Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) Member-Secretary B.P. Ravi, Mysuru Zoo Executive Director Ajit M. Kulkarni and others.

The new enclosure has been constructed at a cost of Rs. 75 lakh through BRBNMPL Corporate Social Responsibility  (CSR) fund.

BRBNMPL Deputy General Manager (CSR) Pramod Kumar and others were present.

About Ring-Tailed Lemur

The ring-tailed lemur is a medium- to larger-sized strepsirrhine (wet-nosed) primate and the most internationally-recognised lemur species, owing to its long, black-and-white, ringed tail.

They are highly social, living in groups of up to 30 individuals. It is also a female-dominant species, a commonality among lemurs. To keep warm and reaffirm social bonds, groups will huddle together. They use numerous vocalisations, including calling for group cohesion and predator alarm calls.

The ring-tailed lemur is an opportunistic omnivore primarily eating fruits and leaves, particularly those of the tamarind tree. When available, tamarind makes up as much as 50 percent of the diet, especially during the dry, winter season.

The ring-tailed lemur eats from as many as three dozen different plant species and its diet includes flowers, herbs, bark and sap.

Lemurs have been observed eating decayed wood, earth, spider webs, insect cocoons, arthropods (spiders, caterpillars, cicadas and grasshoppers) and small vertebrates (birds and chameleons). During the dry season it becomes increasingly opportunistic.