Masoala National Park

Wildlife & Animals

Masoala Tours

Expert

Philip is the author of the Insight Guide to Madagascar.

Masoala National Park (Parc National de Masoala) is a wildlife haven with a large variety of lemurs, small predators, reptiles and amphibians. However, you’ll have to work a bit harder than you do in more-popular parks to see a lot of species. The very localized red ruffed lemur is most sought-after, but other lemurs to look out for include the Masoala woolly lemur and Masoala fork-marked lemur.

Red ruffed lemur Common

Humpback
whale Common

Masoala
woolly lemur Occasional

White-fronted
brown lemur Common

Masoala
fork-marked lemur Occasional

Masoala
sportive lemur Common

Mouse lemurs Occasional

Tomato frog Occasional

Panther
chameleon Occasional

Leaf-tailed
geckos Common

Aye-aye Very Rare

Fossa Very Rare

Lowland
streaked tenrec Rare

Greater
hedgehog tenrec Rare

Wildlife Highlights

The park is a hiker’s paradise and the attitude to wildlife viewing here is mostly ‘to see what you see’ along the way. However, the endemic red ruffed lemur is regularly spotted. You often hear them before you see them as they are very vocal and loud. Beautiful moths and butterflies flutter around the dappled light in the forest, and humpback whales are a common sight during their breeding season.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

Masoala can be visited throughout the year, but the park has a very wet climate and the rain can interfere with your activities during the Wet season (from December to July). Lemurs have their young from October to November and reptiles are most active from September to February. Between July and late September humpback whales stay in Antongil Bay (Baie d’Antongil) to breed and calf.