Angwantibos live in tropical Africa and their range includes Nigeria, Cameroon north of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Their snout is more pointed than that of the other lorids and this, along with their round ears, gives it the bear-like appearance that lends them their name in German: Bärenmaki, "bear lemur".

Solitary, nocturnal and arboreal, they prefer the underbrush and the lower layers of the forests.

The juvenile clasps itself first to the belly of the mother and later she may park her offspring on a branch while she goes searching for food.

[citation needed] A subplot in Gerald Durrell's first book The Overloaded Ark centres on his attempts to secure an angwantibo for zoological study.