The Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei), also known as Cleese's woolly lemur, is a species of woolly lemur endemic western Madagascar, named after John Cleese. The scientist who discovered the species named it after Cleese, star of Monty Python, mainly because of Cleese's fondness for lemurs, as shown in Operation Lemur With John Cleese and Fierce Creatures, and his efforts at protecting and preserving them. The species was first discovered in 1990 by a team of scientists from Zurich University led by Urs Thalmann, but wasn't formally described as a species until November 11, 2005.