This young red-bellied lemur was part of a free ranging troop that took up residence in Parc Ovoloina on the northeast coast of Madagascar. All lemurs are endangered. The red-bellied is listed as “Vulnerable” by the IUCN due to shrinking habitat from continued slash and burn farming practices throughout its range.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 250, f/4.5 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-600 flash

The fanaloka is native to Madagascar. I found this one lurking in the bushes while on a night hike in Ranomafana National Park, which is in the central part of the island nation. Fanalokas are strictly nocturnal, and most scientists think, solitary, although there is also evidence that they may live in pairs. Next to the fossa (which I didn’t see), the fanaloka is the next largest carnivore in Madagascar. That being said, they are pretty small, weighing in at just over four pounds and measuring nineteen inches long, not including the tail which is another seven to eight inches long.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 155mm) ISO 200, f/5 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-600 flash

This is a brown mouse lemur that I photographed on a night hike on the island of Nosy Mangabe, off the northeast coast of Madagascar. I’m not sure what that particular fruit is, but the lemur seemed determined to make a meal out of it.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-600 flash units

This common brown lemur didn’t seem too pleased to be having his picture taken. Or maybe that big bushy tail of his friend was getting on his nerves. Photographed in central Madagascar back in 2007, I was using my backup camera for some reason that I can’t recall, and its often times deadly pop up flash. It seemed to work okay in this instance though because I was so close to the lemur and there were no distracting branches in the way.
Nikon D40x with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 55mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, on camera flash

Last week I posted a black and white ruffed lemur from Lemur Island in Madagascar. This is a common brown lemur on the right and a red-fronted brown lemur on the left. They are very similar species and, in fact, the red-fronted brown lemur used to be considered a subspecies of the common brown lemur. Both species live together on Lemur Island, a rehabilitation center for rescued and orphaned lemurs.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-600 flash units

I’ve posted a few black and white ruffed lemurs before. Here’s another. I used flash to illuminate the lemur, backlit by the sun. This one was taken on Lemurs Island, just outside of Andasibe-Mantadia National Park in eastern Madagascar.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/10 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-600 flash units

This is a red-bellied lemur, photographed in Ranomafana National Park in the east central region of Madagascar. These lemurs are considered vulnerable due to diminishing habitat (as are all lemurs). In this case, it’s mostly due to slash and burn farming. The male and female of the species are fairly similar in appearance, although the male has a more pronounced teardrop-shaped patch of white beneath the eyes.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash

First off, sorry for the inadvertent post yesterday afternoon. I’ve been working on re-skinning my website and something accidentally sent out a rogue email. As you can see, I have a new look, featuring a ring tailed lemur logo. It’s tough to say what my favorite animal is. Usually it’s whatever I’m photographing next. That being said, I’ve always had a bit of an extra fondness for lemurs and Madagascar in general, so I figured why not. The site is still a work in progress and will probably change several times over the next few weeks. For now, I’m going with this. If you click on the logo and go to the homepage, you’ll see that my slideshow is now fullscreen in your browser. This definitely shows off the photos better if you have a large screen, but does cause some cropping problems on mobile devices and browser windows that aren’t to the approximate dimensions of the image. For now, it’s a good compromise. Let me know what you think. And as I’ve been doing for the past month or so, click on the photo of the day image for a full size view.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 100, f/10 at 1/80th of a second

This is the fantastic leaf tailed gecko (Uroplatus phantasticus), also known as the satanic leaf tailed gecko. I kind of think the latter name is a bit more apropos. Of course, fantastic or satanic, the “leaf tailed” part of the name is quite evident in this photo. We met in Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park late one evening.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (with Canon 500D close up filter) ISO 200, f/22 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units

It’s obvious, of course, where the ring tailed lemur gets its name. In this shot that tail is on display (along with a few other parts) in all its bushy glory. Some day I hope to get back to southern Madagascar to visit these amazing primates once again.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/2.8 at 1/40th of a second