Ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) Santiago Urquijo/Getty

Cute they may be, but ring-tailed lemurs are in deep trouble in Madagascar, according to a report listing the world’s 25 most endangered primates.

According to rough estimates two decades ago, ring-tailed lemurs once numbered “several hundred thousand” throughout the island. But according to a recent census included in the report, numbers have now crashed to between 2500 and 3000.

“It’s so dramatic we felt we had to highlight it,” says lead author Christoph Schwitzer, director of conservation at Bristol Zoological Society. “They are the most abundant primate in zoos, but …