Red Fronted Brown Lemur
The foliage of Vohipara was very much like Ranomafana National Park; thick with bamboo and feeling dry. The most notable difference was that while Ranomafana was very hilly, which turned me into a sweat-bucket by the end of the walk, Vohipara was comparatively flat.
Our guide had recommended we visit this park as it is the haunt of the Milne Edwards' Sifaka. Sifaka are a genus (propithecus) of lemur. Malagasy people named them Sifakas for the unique call they send echoing through the forests, which sounds like 'shif-ak'. They're different from other lemurs in that they maintain an upright position when leaping from tree to tree and moving along branches. They move by vertically clinging and leaping quickly from tree to tree by jumping with their powerful hind legs. In this way they can clear distances of over 9 metres.
The diet of Milne-Edwards’ Sifaka contains a variety of seeds and new leaves, as well as fruits and flowers. They move through the forest at a fast rate (I can testify to this!) to forage for this varied diet. As always sadly they're classed as endangered on the IUCN red list by habitat loss, hunting and sensitivity to a changing climate.
We first saw a troop of these Sifakas way up in the trees but it wasn't long before our guide was radioed to say that a mother and her baby were right down on the ground, albeit within thick forest. We rushed to see what we could find and sure enough there they were, completely unperturbed by us being there.
The next hour proceeded in us watching the troop as they moved through the forest. Often it was difficult to keep up as I tripped and awkwardly clambered along the forest floor. It was only when they occasionally stopped for a breather that I was able to try and get some photos of them...