Casting Light on Prosimian Relocations: Long-Term Monitoring of Relocated Eulemur collaris in South-Eastern Madagascar

The littoral forest in Madagascar is one of the habitats that have suffered a great reduction in size, and the vast diversity of plants and animals living in it is now highly threatened. In the south-east of the island, a few fragments of littoral forest still harbour small populations of the endangered collared brown lemur, Eulemur collaris . In 2000, the rapid devastation of one of theseforest fragments by charcoal makers (in the area of Mandena) elicited a rescue action and relocation of 28 E. collaris into a nearby, but recently protected, fragment. Since then, some of the relocated animals have been observed by a team of observers from QMM (QIT Madagascar Minerals) in order to get insight into their adaptation to the new area. Since there is a paucity of longterm data on prosimians relocations, these monitoring efforts are crucial to understand how prosimians in general and lemurs in particular may adapt to unfamiliar areas. We analysed dietary choice in one relocated group of E. collaris throughout several years and we compared it with data from other populations to assess whether the release site provided a suitable habitat. We analysed data collected by local QMM assistants in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2013. The analysis indicated that the diet of E. collaris remained mainly frugivorous over the years, which is the usual dietary regime shown by this species in natural situations. A Mixed Model indicated that seasonal fluctuations were wider than inter-annual differences, which is in line with the highly variable tree phonological pattern in this habitat. This multi-annual study indicated that E. collaris did not modify its overall diet at the release site in terms of major food categories but the use of tree species varied significantly throughout the years. Summarizing, our work suggests that Eulemur species may tolerate relocations and the disruptive effects of these operations are not apparent on the animals’ behavioural ecology over the long-term.