Crowned Sifaka, Propithecus coronatus
CROWNED SIFAKA
Propithecus coronatus
Geographic Distribution and Habitat
Crowned sifakas are endemic to (meaning only found in) western and western-central Madagascar. Their habitat is severely fragmented; a word which in conservation biology means what was once an extensive forest is now broken into small fragments with little to no connection between them, resulting in the limitation of access to food sources and new mating opportunities for species living in these forests.
The remaining forest fragments crowned sifakas are found in are primarily tropical dry forests and coastal mangroves, ranging between the Mahavavy and Betsiboka Rivers in the north, and between the Manambola, Tsibirhina Mania, and Sakay rivers in the south. They are also found in the gallery forests that act as an intermediate between dry and wet forests, riparian forests along rivers, and dry deciduous forests. Crowned sifakas are mostly found in primary forests that have not experienced any disturbance from human activities.
Originally classified as one of four subspecies of the Verreaux’s sifaka, along with Coquerel’s sifakas and Decken’s sifakas, taxonomists have recently reclassified all four subspecies to their own species, based on differences in morphology. This change is debated, however, particularly between more similar species such as the crowned sifaka and Decken’s sifaka, which are close to each other in range and appearance.
Size, Weight, and Lifespan
Crowned sifakas have an average head and body length of 17.22 inches (437.5 mm) and a tail length of 23.82 inches (605 mm). They are not particularly sexually dimorphic (so, males and females mostly look alike), with males weighing about 7.72–9.92 pounds (3.5–4.5 kg) and females weighing about 7.72–11.02 pounds (3.5–5 kg). Infants weigh less than a pound (specifically 0.19 pounds, or 0.09 kg) when born.
While the crowned sifaka’s lifespan in the wild has yet to be determined, in captivity, they have been known to live up to 20–30 years.
Appearance
Crowned sifakas are covered in dense fur, starting with the stark black fur covering their heads, broken only by their white ear tufts and light green or golden eyes. The fur on their chest and belly (or in science speak, their ventral side) is a deep rusty red color, which bleeds into the creamy white fur that covers the rest of their body. They have long hands and feet, perfect for wrapping around tree branches, and have a more robust nose compared to other sifakas.
In the extreme south of their range, melanistic crowned sifakas are found alongside typically-colored members of the species. The typical coloration is rufous (or reddish) coloration on their back, spreading onto the forearms. The melanistic forms may be “very dark”, with dark brown or blackish fur along the forearms and upper back, or “intermediate” with dull rufous or light brown fur on the forearms and upper back. In nature, individuals may fall between these three described forms, making more of a possible coloration gradient rather than distinct categories.
Diet
Like other sifakas, the crowned sifaka is folivorous, meaning their favorite food is leaves. They eat both young and mature leaves, as well as ripe and unripe fruit, depending on seasonal availability. In the wet season, young leaves and flowers are their dietary staples, with fruit being a more frequent addition compared to the dry season, when both young and mature leaves are primarily consumed.
Behavior and Lifestyle
Likely due to them only somewhat recently being elevated to their own species, the understanding we currently have of crowned sifakas is still fairly limited. We do know that they are diurnal, and spend most of their active hours in the daytime. They spend most of their time in the trees, making them arboreal. On the rare occasions that they do come to the ground, they move by leaping sideways (similar to a ballerina doing a chassé). The reason for this (less graceful) ballet performance on the ground is because of their arboreal adaptations: sifakas have long reaching arms and short springy legs perfectly adapted to vertical cling and leaping (or VCL for short) between tree branches, appearing more like a very large rouge bouncy ball rather than a ballerina.
The name “sifaka” comes from the tchi-fak calls they often emit.
Crowned sifakas live in groups of 2-8 individuals. Like other lemurs, they are female-dominant: all females are dominant over all males. Typically, there will only be one breeding female in the group, and other females in the group will help take care of her offspring. The female dominance seen across lemur species has been difficult for many researchers to fit into the male-dominant paradigm that has been accepted for primates. Often, female dominance in lemurs is attributed to feeding priority for females to access the nutrients they need to carry and raise young. This makes sense when you see a female lemur snatch food right out of a helpless male’s hand, although researchers studying crowned sifakas noticed there was no difference in the energy intake (or simply, the amount of food eaten) between males and females. Some scientists have suggested that, because lemurs share more ancestral traits with the first primates, female dominance may also be an ancestral trait for primates—which starkly contrasts the currently accepted idea that primates are male dominant by default.
Intergroup encounters between crowned sifakas typically remain peaceful but can become aggressive if one group feels their territory is being threatened.
Crowned sifakas are known to live alongside brown lemurs, mongoose lemurs, and the Antafia sportive lemur. They tend to tolerate other lemur species—especially the ones that are more frugivorous (fruit-eating) and don’t pose as competition to their diets.
Sifakas have scent glands on their chest and, like all lemurs, in the anogenital area (or under their tail). Scent marking is an important form of communication used amongst lemurs and other prosimian primates, which mostly conveys reproductive status to members of the opposite sex, as well as marking territory.
Another form of communication used by the crowned sifaka is vocalizations. A common vocalization used by sifakas is known as tchi-fak (or shi-fakh), which is a type of loud call typically used in intergroup encounters, coordinating movement with other group members, and to alert each other of terrestrial predators. These calls are typically given several times in succession with the head back, and are distinctive between individuals. While each lemur sounds a bit different, researchers have documented differences between the crowned sifaka’s tchi-fak from Decken’s sifaka’s, with crowned sifaka’s having a comparatively higher frequency call. This difference could support the separation of these species from the Verreaux’s sifaka. It is not unusual, however, for different groups within a species to have slight differences in their calls (think of it like different accents), so more research is needed to show if this is truly a distinct difference between crowned and Decken’s sifakas.
Most of our understanding of crowned sifaka reproduction currently comes from records of Europe’s captive breeding program. In captivity, they will usually give birth once every 12 months, but in the wild, interbirth intervals are typically 2-3 years, with a gestation of about 5-6 months. Females reach sexual maturity at around 2.5 years of age. During estrus (when females are ready to conceive), females become more aggressive, particularly towards the males that just won’t stop following them around during this time. Males also scent mark more when the breeding female is in estrus, particularly over areas the female has already marked.
Like many other primate species, crowned sifakas likely contribute to the biodiversity of the forest by acting as seed dispersers of the fruits they eat. Sifakas may also act as ecosystem engineers that can change the structure of their habitat. This has not been studied specifically for sifakas, but some researchers think that folivorous primates may change the composition of trees in the forest by eating leaves to the point of slowing the growth rate of their favorite trees to snack on or increasing the trees’ productivity (depending on the tree species). More research is needed to understand exactly how crowned sifakas interact with their environment, but there’s no doubt that whatever role they play is an important one.
The crowned sifaka is classified as Critically Endangered (IUCN, 2018) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, appearing on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Their population is declining. Researchers believe crowned sifakas have experienced at least an 80% decline in their population size over 30 years, based on an observed decline in population size combined with decline in habitat and habitat quality due to human activities. The primary threats crowned sifakas face include the burning of forests to clear space for livestock pasture and logging for charcoal. Some local communities have stigmas against killing sifakas, but in other communities, they are hunted and sold for bushmeat and may even be sold in the pet trade.
Crowned sifakas are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), an international agreement between governments whose goal is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Crowned sifakas occur in three protected areas in the northern part of the species’ range.
In the 1980’s a European captive breeding program was established with some success, and continues today. The European program works in conjunction with a second captive group of crowned sifakas in Madagascar with the aim of maintaining a “modern ark” to possibly replenish the genetic diversity of isolated wild populations if needed. The program also has in situ conservation projects (conservation occurring in the wild), such as leading surveys of crowned sifakas in the wild, expanding our understanding of them. They have also created educational programs in Malagasy and European schools.
Experts advocate for increased captive management of the species within Madagascar for ex-situ conservation (conservation occurring outside of the wild). While there are currently no protected areas in the south of the crowned sifaka’s range, there are community-based conservation projects, which the European captive population works alongside.
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Written by Lina Rademacher, May 2025