Potto

Potto

We are delighted that the Grönefeld family has taken on the sponsorship of the potto (Perodictius potto).

The nocturnal lifestyle, the brownish-grey fur and the slow movements with which they roam through the branches make the cute potto seem rather inconspicuous. Their preferred habitat is the dense rainforests from Guinea in West Africa to south-west Kenya.

The pottos do not belong to the "prosimians" (an outdated term for a group that does not belong together in terms of kinship), but to the wet-nosed monkeys (Strepsirrhini). Their typical characteristics, which they also share with other members of this group, include not only the eponymous wet nose, but also their equipment for regular grooming: the closely spaced incisors and canines form a so-called "tooth comb", and the second toe of the hind legs bears a "grooming claw".

Pottos mainly feed on fruit and tree sap, but also hunt smaller prey. They avoid food competition by eating what is spurned by many other animals: Ants, hairy caterpillars or poisonous millipedes. And occasionally even small bats or birds are among their prey.

The solitary pottos only socialise during the mating season. Males and females usually perform their courtship rituals, which include grooming and scent-marking, by dangling upside down from a branch. One young is born each year, which initially clings to the mother's fur. Once the offspring are big enough, the mother "parks" them on a branch so that she can go foraging alone at night. Before this, however, she uses her teeth to spread a saliva secretion into her offspring's fur, which repels potential enemies.