Indri Song

This video of Indri “song” was recorded at Camp Indri in Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve (ASSR) in northeastern Madagascar in 2017. This new research and tourist camp was built by LCF over several years, is managed by MNP, and now open for visitors. Many groups of critically endangered Indri and two groups of silky sifakas are found nearby. These are the northern-most Indri in Madagascar and are mostly black in pelage.


Indri (Indri indri) are critically endangered, the largest living lemurs, and not found in captivity (zoos) anywhere in the world. Indri “song” is the highest amplitude (“loudest”) vocalization produced by any of the over 100 species of lemurs and can be heard for several kilometers. Song bouts are most frequent in the morning just before and during breeding season in the hot rainy months (December to February). Songs last 40 to 250 seconds and usually begin with group “roars” followed by the long frequency modulated howl. Recent acoustic analyses by Gamba, Giacoma and colleagues have identified 9 note types that comprise the song. Remarkably, two note types are only produced by females. These researchers have also found that portions of the song are co-sung in synchrony between group members. Songs are believed to function as territorial advertisement/defense as well as providing cues to group composition.