The Babakoto, also known as the Indri, is the largest extant (living) Lemur, and it a member of the Sifaka group. It is the most ape-like of the Lemurs, standing about four foot tall, weighing in at 10 kg and having a very short stump of a tail.

The name "Babakoto" is the Malagasy name and translates as "People of the Forest", in fact, in Malagasay custom it is believed that there was once a family with many children. Some of these children went to work in the fields and so became Human and the others took to the forest, becoming the Babakoto. The common name for it, "Indri" directly translates as "there is is" and so goes to display the good old fashioned custom of just naming the creature after whatever the Native shouts, regardless of what it actually means! Hence I prefer the name Babakoto.

One of the most endangered of the Lemur species, the Babakoto has not yet survived in captivity for more than a few months. This is probably due to their diet, which is mainly leaves. Leaves are not very high in nutritional value, therefore Babakoto are not particularly active. They defend their territory by a series of powerful barks which echo throughout the forest clad hills of Eastern Madagascar. They follow this bark with a howl, not unlike a plaintive, musical dog. Babakoto live in family groups, engaging in the occsional bout of wrestling and grooming, although unlike other Sifaka species, Babakoto take the grooming in turns instead of mutually grooming.