Verreaux’s sifaka fur condition in the spiny forest of southern Androy

An index of coat condition can be a non-invasive tool for tracking health and stress at the population level. Here, we considered coat condition of Propithecus verreauxi (Verreaux’s sifaka) as a possible indicator of the "health status" of animals in different habitats. We performed the survey in six spiny forest parcels and three riverine areas of the Berenty Reserve, Southern Madagascar. We scored coat condition on a 3-point scale:coat undamaged, with fur fully covering the body (level 1); ruffled coat,with fur punctuated by small areas of reduced/missing fur (on less than 30 % of the body, especially on elbows and/or knees;level 2);patchy coat,usually with black skin areas clearly visible due to reduced/missing fur (on more than 30 % of the body, especially on elbows/knees, external sides of forearms and thighs, fingers and toes; level 3). We found that fur condition was better in the riverine forest areas than in the spiny forest domain reflecting the fact that riverine forest areas are richer than spiny forest areas in terms of staple food for lemurs.