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Aye-aye Facts

Aye-aye Facts
Aye-aye is one of the strangest looking primates. This animal can be found only in the north-eastern parts of Madagascar. Aye-aye lives in the tropical rainforests and deciduous forests, usually at the altitude above 700 meters. It is characterized by scary appearance and people of Madagascar believe that aye-aye "predicts" death. People often hunt aye-aye because they are afraid of him and because they consider that aye-aye is a pest of agricultural crops. Besides killing, number of aye-aye in the wild is also decreased because of the habitat loss. Aye-aye is listed as nearly threatened species and it is currently under protection.
Interesting Aye-aye Facts:
Aye-aye is a small animal that can reach 14 to 17 inches in length and weight of up to 4 pounds. Its tail is longer than its body, reaching up to 24 inches in length.
Aye-aye is a type of lemur, although it looks like a mixture of several different animals. It has incisors like rodent, claws like sloth, face like weasel and body like monkey.
Body of aye-aye is covered with brown coat with few white hairs. It has large eyes and large, sensitive ears.
Aye-aye is nocturnal (active at night) animal, that spends most of its life high in the treetops.
Aye-aye eats insect larva, nectar, seed, fruit and fungi.
It has specifically designed middle finger which is used for extraction of food from trunks, braches and hard shells. This finger is very thin (looks like it is made of skin and bones) and it can be three times longer than other fingers.
Aye-aye taps a branch with its finger and listens is there is any sound of moving insects or larvae inside. If the movement is detected, aye-aye will make a hole with sharp teeth and use its middle digit to scoop the prey.
Aye-aye spends a day in nests in the trees. It builds several nests of twigs and leaves on its territory and it often changes its location to escape from the predators.
Besides humans, main predators of aye-aye are fossa and birds of prey.
Aye-aye is a solitary creature that gathers with other aye-ayes only for mating.
Aye-aye does not have specific time of the year when it mates. It can reproduce throughout the whole year.
When the female is ready for reproduction, she will vocalize to inform the males.
Pregnancy in females lasts 160 days and ends with one baby that spends first two months of its life in the nest. Aye-aye depends on mother's milk during the first seven months, but it will stays with its mother until the age of two years.
Aye-aye reproduces every 2-3 years and it becomes sexually mature at age of 3 - 3.5 years.
Average lifespan in captivity is 20 to 23 years. Lifespan in the wild is unknown.


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