Andasibe-Mantadia National Park

Wildlife & Animals

Expert

Anthony is the author of the Lonely Planet guide to Madagascar.

Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is one of Madagascar’s flagship parks and offers great wildlife viewing. Most people only visit the Andasibe section of the park (officially known as Parc National Analamazaotra), which is home to 12 species of lemurs. This includes the indri, the largest lemur alive. You can see six of the lemur species by day, but the other six are nocturnal. To spot these, you’ll need to go on a guided night walk in one of the private reserves that surround the main park.

Indri Common

Diademed sifaka Occasional

Red-bellied
lemur Occasional

Common
brown lemur Common

Grey
bamboo lemur Occasional

Mouse lemurs Occasional

Sportive lemurs Occasional

Parson's
chameleon Occasional

Other
chameleons Common

Leaf-tailed geckos Common

Painted mantella Occasional

Black-and-white
ruffed lemur Rare

Madagascar tree boa Rare

Fossa Very Rare

Wildlife Highlights

The ultimate highlight is seeing the indri and hearing its haunting, wail-like cry. This is the best park in Madagascar for seeing these teddy-bear-like creatures in the wild. The charismatic diademed sifaka is another daytime highlight. Night walks in the surrounding reserves might yield sightings of the aye-aye, eastern woolly lemur, sportive lemur, dwarf lemur, rufous mouse lemur and Goodman’s mouse lemur. To see the beautiful black-and-white ruffed lemur, travel to the Mantadia section of the park.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

Andasibe-Mantadia can be visited throughout the year. Indri sightings are pretty much guaranteed year-round. However, the best time for wildlife viewing are the shoulder months of April, May, October and November. Many reptiles and some mammals, such as tenrecs and dwarf lemurs, are less active and harder to see in the cold drier months from June to September. Although it can rain at any time, the wettest months are from December to March, and hiking in the forest can become more difficult then.