Two fuzzy, bright-eyed ring-tailed lemurs were born on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at Bioparc Valencia in Spain. Within a few hours, early morning visitors to their habitat could see them clinging to their mother's belly. This is the third set of babies for their ten year old mom, who has been at Bioparc Valencia since 2007. Ring-tail lemur babies usually spend their first two weeks of life grasping their mother's abdomen before they switch to riding on her back. 

Photo credits: Bioparc Valencia

The most striking feature of this prosimian native to Madagascar, an island off the coast of Africa, is the striking and quite long tail of black and white rings, which can measure 24 inches (60 cm) in length. It features a gray coat, white belly, dark muzzle and a black mask around the eyes. Unlike other lemurs, they are arboreal and terrestrial animals, but spend most time on the ground, being active mainly in the morning. 

The ring-tailed lemurs' conservation status for this primate species is "Vulnerable", mainly due to the all- too-common loss of their habitat by deforestation and human settlements. The species shot to fame after the 2005 animated movie called Madagascar, which featured a ring-tailed lemur named Julian. So while not the most threatened on their island, they are very important because their species serves a flagship role.