Laura the Ring-Tailed Lemur

Investigative guides which reveal amazing facts about members of the animal kingdom. In this episode, the focus is on Laura and Lucy, eight-week-old ring-tailed lemurs from different ends of the social order.

These lemurs have a strict hierarchy. Females are very much in charge and the males rank lowest in the pecking order. Their troop of 15 made up of mostly females and their young, with just a few adult males, live in the Berenty Private Reserve in Southern Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa.

The forest troop's territory only covers about three hectares which is about the size of four football pitches. Lucy's mother is the lowest-ranking female and even having a baby won't change that, but Laura's mother is the leader of the troop. In lemur society, that makes a big difference to every aspect of their lives.