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Coquerel's Sifaka (Propithecus coquereli) Fact Sheet: Population & Conservation Status

Population Status

Population size (Kun-Rodrigues et al. 2014, except as noted)

  • No global estimates
    • Minimal historic data
  • Ankarafantsika National Park
    • About 47,000 individuals (Kun-Rodgriguez et al. 2014)
    • Represents the largest forested area in northwestern Madagascar

Conservation Status

IUCN Status

  • Critically Endangered (2018 assessment) (Louis et al. 2020)
    • Habitat loss and hunting have led to population declines of 80% since the late 1980s
  • Historical listing
    • 2014 - Endangerd
    • 2008 - Endangered
    • 2000 - Endangered
    • 1996 - Endangered
    • 1990 - Vulnerable

CITES Status

Threats to Survival

Habitat loss (from Andriaholinirina et al. 2014)

  • Slash-and-burn practices conducted annually
    • Clears land for agriculture and livestock
  • Trees cut to produce charcoal
  • Limited species range exacerbates the threat

Hunted

  • Killed for food
    • Among most hunted/consumed vertebrates in Ankarafantsika National Park (Kun-Rodrigues et al. 2014)
    • Local taboo forbids hunting, though incoming ethnic groups have no such cultural restrictions (Haring 2012)

Management Actions

Populations within protected areas (Andriaholinirina et al. 2014)

  • Ankarafantsika National Park and the Bora Special Reserve
    • Experience threat from hunting and habitat degradation inside reserves

Needed actions

  • Incorporate further forest habitat under protected status
    • Anjiamanginana, Anjajavy, the Narinda Peninsula, and Mariarano
  • Community-based conservation action (Kun-Rodrigues et al. 2014)
    • Maintain forest connectivity
    • Implement alternatives to deforestation
      • Loss the result of charcoal production, logging, and grass fires
    • Reduce poaching
    • Enable long-term population monitoring

Coquerel's Sifaka

two sifakas in a tree

Little is known about the population size for Coquerel's sifaka in the wild.

Large population declines have occured over teh past 5 decades when an estimated 50% decline took place.

Image credit: © F. Vassen from Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Page Citations

Andriaholinirina et al. (2014)
Haring (2012)
Kun-Rodrigues et al. (2014)

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