The red bellied lemur has dark brown fur with a black tail, and the males have white bare patches of skin below their eyes making it easy to distinguish them from the females. They can be active during both day and night time depending on the availability of their food, and they feed from ground level up to the highest point of the trees.

In the wild, these can be found in family groups of between 2 to 10 individuals. One dominant female will be in charge of the group, and they are very protective over their territory. Females give birth around September and October to one offspring. This infant will begin by being carried around on its mother’s belly, then moves onto her back. Both parents will then carry the young on their backs, before it lies with sole responsibility of the father until the young is around 100 days old.

The red bellied lemur is facing significant amounts of habitat loss which is causing its population numbers to decrease.