The black-and-white ruffed lemur was elevated by the IUCN to critically endangered (A2cd) status from endangered status in 2008. They cite that "the species is believed to have undergone a decline of 80% over a period of 27 years, due primarily to a decline in area and quality of habitat within the known range of the species and due to levels of exploitation." The total area of all known localities in which black-and-white ruffed lemurs exist is estimated at less than , while the total wild population is estimated between 1,000 and 10,000.