# Are Aye-ayes Endangered?

> Are aye-ayes endangered? Status Endangered, main threats, and what protection means.

- **Species:** Aye-aye (*Daubentonia madagascariensis*)
- **Conservation status:** Endangered
- **Diet:** Omnivore — insect larvae, fruit, nectar, and fungi
- **Habitat:** Rainforests and coconut plantations of Madagascar
- **Lifespan:** 20–23 years in the wild (long-lived for a lemur)
- **Top speed:** Slow arboreal locomotion; leaps between branches at night
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/aye-aye/are-aye-aye-endangered/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/aye-aye/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

The aye-aye is a large nocturnal lemur found only in Madagascar, easily recognised by its bushy tail, rodent-like teeth and long, spindly middle finger. It weighs 2 to 3 kg (4.4 to 6.6 lb) and forages alone at night for insect larvae, fruit, nectar and fungi. Long-lived for a lemur, it can survive 20 to 23 years in the wild. The IUCN lists it as Endangered.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need the full biology — use the [Aye-aye profile](https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/aye-aye/) instead.

## A unique way of finding food

The aye-aye feeds using a method found in no other primate, sometimes called percussive foraging. It taps rapidly along a branch with its slender middle finger and listens for the hollow echo of a tunnel left by wood-boring grubs. Once it locates a cavity, it gnaws a hole with its ever-growing incisors and hooks the larva out with that same thin finger. This tap-and-listen technique fills the same ecological niche that woodpeckers occupy elsewhere in the world.

## Help protect the Aye-aye

Aye-ayes are Endangered in Madagascar's rainforests, persecuted by folklore and losing habitat to logging.

[Donate to protect habitat](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/appeals/habitats/)

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Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/aye-aye/are-aye-aye-endangered/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.