Geographic Range and Habitat
The golden-crowned sifaka lives in dry deciduous, gallery, and semi-evergreen forests and is found at altitudes up to 500 m (1,600 ft), though it seems to prefer lower elevations. Surveys have shown it to be limited to highly fragmented forests surrounding the town of Daraina in an area encircled by the Loky and Manambato rivers in northeastern Madagascar. The golden-crowned sifaka has one of the smallest geographic ranges of all indriid lemur species. Out of 75 forest fragments studied by researchers, its presence could be definitively reported in only 44, totaling 44,125 ha (170 sq mi). This study, published in 2002, also estimated the total species population and observed population densities. Home range size varied between 0.18 and 0.29 km2 (0.069 and 0.11 sq mi) per group. With an average group size of five individuals, the population density ranged between 17 and 28 individuals per km2. Another home range size estimate of 0.09 to 0.12 km2 (0.035 to 0.046 sq mi) has also been suggested with a population density range of 10 and 23 individuals per km2. The forested area available to the species within its desired elevation range was estimated at 360 km2 (140 sq mi), yielding an estimated population of 6,120–10,080 and a breeding population between 2,520 and 3,960 individuals.
The species is sympatric (coexists) with two other medium-sized lemurs: the Sanford's brown lemur (Eulemur sanfordii) and the crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus).
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