Monday, March 22, 2010

I saw I saw a Flying Lemur with her baby !



Saw this animal last month the week after CNY during our regular Saturday hike. We were on our way downhill when we came across this animal carrying her baby wrapped under her stomach. They were lying in the drain full of dry leaves. At that time, all of us was thinking it's a flying fox and must be injured while fighting or something which caused her to fell down somewhere from the trees above.

The animal was a bit clumsy in movement. We tried our best to move her up the slope from the drain, but she was too heavy to be moved. Poor animal. We are not sure how we could help the poor animal and her baby at that moment apart from getting her out from the drain to the much higher and 'safer' place. Hope she can survive with her baby.



It was only few weeks after that when I came across an article with the picture in the newspaper writing about Sibu rain forest that the animal is called Flying Lemur! Amazing and I'm really glad that I have the chance to come face to face with such a rare animal. Below are some of the facts of this Flying Lemur. Happy reading...

Malayan Colugo Cynocephalus variegatus
Status: Vulnerable.

Interesting Facts: Colugos are also called flying lemur. However, there are not closely related to the true lemur, which are found in Madagascar. Flying lemurs are classified in the order Dermoptera, from the Greek words derma, meaning "skin", and the ptera, meaning "wing", thus "skin-wing". These creatures have membranes that connect their legs and tail, enable them to glide from one tree to the other. There are 2 species of colugo in the world; the Malayan Flying Lemur and the Philippine Flying Lemur. It is reported that there are approximately 1500 Malayan Flying Lemurs in Singapore.

Size: About 70cm

Diet: Mainly leaves, young shoots, flower buds and sap.

Activity: Arboreal, largely nocturnal. It is usually seen perching against a tree trunk with its head pointing upwards. When disturbed, the Colugo has two defensive reactions: It will either freeze and hope not to get noticed or scramble up the trunk higher into the tree.
It can glide from tree to tree in a steady controlled manner, landing with the head up neatly and precisely.

Habitat: Forests. Adapts quite well to disturbed Forest edges and coastal plantations. . This species has a wide distribution in Southeast Asia.

2 comments:

HL said...

This animal should be same family with bats ..

BH said...

Not sure wor, at least this animal can see during the daylight :p