Learning from endangered lemurs

In Malagasy, the word “tavy” is used to describe shifting agriculture where natural vegetation is burned to clear the area for crops. It’s a common part of subsistence agriculture throughout many parts of the world, and a practice steeped in hundreds of years of tradition. Though, it’s not without its risks.

On 9 October, Fredo, KAFS Site Manager and Reforestation Community Liaison, received a phone call from our Ambodifandramanana and Vatovavy Nursery Managers, Doro and Hery. People were clearing an area, and the fire went out of control. It was burning along the slopes of the iconic Vatovavy mountain. The forest on Vatovavy shelters populations of endangered lemurs, palms, and many more species about which we are still learning.

KAFS employees and people from the nearby villages rushed to control the fire. It was far too great a task for this group alone, so people from ten other villages joined the efforts. The firefighting team continued to expand and eventually included regional authorities from the Gendarme and CIREF. It took days to control the fire. Fredo said, “We are so sad as all biodiversity gone in just one night.”

Not only is the mountain regarded with reverence by the community, but MBP’s lemur monitoring teams know the animals in this forest. They know where they sleep, from what trees they eat, and if they have babies. Ruby and Beryl, mother and son aye-ayes, live here. Two groups of greater bamboo lemurs roam along the periphery of the forest, and black-and-white ruffed lemurs scour the interior looking for large trees ladened with fruit. The guides were eager to re-enter the forest and, once it was safe to do so, they quickly searched for the lemurs. It was with great relief when they reported that all the monitored animals were safe.

Thanks to your donations, MBP’s lemur monitoring teams will continue to track these lemurs and those in other forests around Kianjavato. We will observe how they respond to disruptions, learning about their resiliency and even their frailty. The lemur monitoring teams are persuasive advocates for wildlife. And MBP will work with the community to reforest the burnt area of Vatovavy while encouraging dialogue on alternative agricultural practices and fire response.

From our family to yours, we wish you Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Year.

In August 2023, Theoluc, Greater Bamboo Lemur Field Supervisor, snapped this photo of Luna, a female greater bamboo lemur who lives in Sangasanga. We've known Luna since September 2008. At this point she was already an adult, making her more than 15 years old today!

Luna and the other lemurs in her group have been living in this giant bamboo since Cyclones Batsirai and Emanti in 2022. This particular species of Asian bamboo was planted as a specimen in the FOFIFA station on Sangasanga and is not part of the lemurs' natural diet. However, they've been feeding heavily on it for more than a year now and rarely travel to the patches of native bamboo in the forest upon which they used to sustain themselves.

Theoluc predicts that greater bamboo lemurs may return to the forest bamboo later this year when the young, nutritious shoots emerge from the ground. The lemurs love this stuff! Plus, it might be a critical part of the diet of lactating mothers who are nursing their babies when the shoots are in season. Funds raised through GlobalGiving are used to monitor animals like Luna to understand how they cope with changing environments, document human-wildlife interactions, and learn about all the stages of lemur lives from infancy to their sunset years.