Aye-aye, << EYE eye, >> is a rare tree-dwelling primate of Madagascar with woolly, brownish fur and a long, bushy tail. It is the oddest member of the group of monkeylike animals called lemurs. The aye-aye weighs 5 to 7 pounds (2 to 3 kilograms) and measures about 3 feet (1 meter) long from head to tail. It has large eyes like a lemur but features unusually large ears.
The aye-aye becomes most active at night, when it hunts for food. The animal bores into trees with its large, rodentlike front teeth. It then uses its long, clawed third finger to probe inside and extract insects and their larvae (young) to eat. During the day, aye-ayes hide in the forks of trees, among vines, and in nests made of twigs. They mostly live and feed alone, coming together only to breed. Young aye-ayes stay with their mothers until they can survive on their own.
The government of Madagascar protects aye-ayes with laws that forbid hunting them. However, habitat destruction and poaching (illegal hunting) endanger the animal’s survival. Small populations live throughout Madagascar, but the precise number of aye-ayes in the wild remains unknown.
