Madagascar's unique wildlife, if preserved wisely, can help the nations ecotourism trade blossom, and with over 200,000 tourists per year and growing, the thousands of species of plants, reptiles, and of course, lemurs, exclusive to this one island, must somehow survive. With a new president elected in 2014, the government of Madagascar announced a new initiative to save their most iconic citizens. But the taboo has eroded, and in the last decade, people have been hunting lemurs for their meat and fur, and lemur dishes are served in local taverns, despite being illegal.īut the biggest danger for lemurs is deforestation. The people believed that harming a lemur in any way would bring bad luck, disease, or even death.
Lemurs were once considered a sacred animal that was honored and respected. Hunting has only recently become an issue, as some of the old customs and traditions of Madagascar change with the times. Only Madagascar's largest predator, the awesome fossa, which looks like a small, brown, 25 pound mountain lion, but is actually related to the mongoose, regularly preys on ring-tailed lemurs, although buzzards, large boas, and domestic dogs are also an occasional threat. This is seen most often against snakes, where families of lemurs will converge on a large ground boa and simply beat it to death. Ring-tail lemurs are small animals, overall, at about 5 or 6 pounds fully grown, but they live in alert communities of 10 to 25 individuals, and use warning calls if danger approaches.Ī group of lemurs is called a conspiracy, and they will, in fact, conspire together against predators, occasionally using a technique called "mobbing", where the entire group will attack. Some species, such as the large, exquisitely black-furred Indri, are almost exclusively tree-dwelling, while the most recognizable species, the beautiful ring-tailed lemur, spends as much as 70 percent of the time on the ground, even sleeping in big, furry, communal, heaps, right out in the open on grass or rocks. The long, thickly furred tail is not prehensile, but acts like a rudder as they fly through the air, and a signalling device while on the ground. They are social, active animals with remarkable athletic abilities, who can leap 30 feet or more from limb to limb using their powerful, long legs and strong gripping hands and feet. Most lemurs are plant eaters that indulge in the tropical leaves, fruits, shoots and flowers of the island, while occasionally dining on insects, and possibly small reptiles and birds. Since then, people have destroyed over 90 percent of the natural forests, leaving the lemurs, as a group, the most endangered mammals in the world. These creatures evolved undisturbed in an isolated environment for millions of years, and thrived in their island paradise until human beings came to Madagascar about 2000 years ago.
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