Where does the aye-aye live?
The aye-aye lives mainly on the east coast of Madagascar. Its natural habitat is rainforest or dry deciduous forest, but many live in cultivated areas because of deforestation. Rainforest aye-ayes, the most common, dwell in the canopy, usually sighted above 70 m. It is a nocturnal, arboreal animal that spends most of its life in the trees.
What does the aye-aye eat?
It has a very unusual way of finding food: it taps on trees and listens for echoes that signal hollows, often infested by grubs. It then gnaws a hole in the wood with its incisors, and pushes in its narrow middle finger to pull the grubs out. This percussive foraging takes up 5–41% of its foraging time. Its incisives, like those of rodents, never stop growing. It is the world's largest nocturnal primate.
Is the aye-aye endangered?
Yes: the IUCN lists it as Endangered. The forests of Madagascar are shrinking because of deforestation. Some local cultures consider the aye-aye evil, and kill it for that reason.
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