Food preferences and nutrient composition in zoo-housed ring-tailed lemurs, Lemur catta.

The aim of the present study was to assess the occurrence of spontaneous food preferences in zoo-housed ring-tailed lemurs and to analyze whether these preferences correlate with nutrient composition. Using a two-alternative choice test three female and one male Lemur catta were repeatedly presented with all possible binary combinations of 12 types of food which are part of their diet in captivity and found to display the following rank order of preference: apple > sweet potato > melon > beetroot > carrot > egg > eggplant > pumpkin > cucumber > tomato > cabbage > mealworm. Correlational analyses revealed a highly significant positive correlation between this food preference ranking and the total carbohydrate and sucrose contents of the foods (p < 0.