Geoffroy’s dwarf lemurs are listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation Nature (IUCN, 2018), appearing on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Prior to the 2018 assessment, however, they were categorized as Data Deficient—that is, there was a need for studies to determine their populations, geographic distribution, and threats (although threats to their habitats were already well known). As a result, there is still quite a lot of research needed specifically about the species in order to achieve a better understanding of them and how to protect them.

Some of those questions have been answered, and we now know that Geoffroy’s dwarf lemurs have been hunted most severely in the northern range, and that their habitat decline and levels of exploitation have warranted a precautionary label of Vulnerable. Their population trend is decreasing, possibly up to 30% over a 24-year period, and they are declining as a species because of fragmentation throughout their range and the extent and quality of their habitat. The IUCN clearly states that more exhaustive studies are necessary to see if Geoffroy’s dwarf lemurs could even qualify as Endangered in the future.

In terms of habitat loss and fragmentation, Geoffroy’s dwarf lemurs are likely affected by the national trends seen all across Madagascar; the island lost 37% of its forest cover from 1973 to 2014, with an annual deforestation rate of 1.1% a year from 2010 to 2014. Now, almost half of Madagascar’s forest is located within less than 330 ft (100 m) from the forest edge, which does not bode well for Geoffroy’s dwarf lemurs because they display lower population densities the closer they are to the forest edge.

The threat Geoffroy’s dwarf lemurs face from hunting is most noticeable in the north, which occurs at a rate of 0.01 to 0.38 per year per household.

Geoffroy’s dwarf lemurs are also prey animals for the ring-tailed mongoose, the Malagasy tree boa, and the Madagascar buzzard.