Page 35 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL11

LEMURS OF MADAGASCARMadagascar was once a part of the enormous super-continent called Gond wanaland which about 180 million years ago had broken up into continents and countries we know today as Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia, and India. Then about 20 million years later Madagascar and India began to break up from Africa. The separation was finally completed about 90 million years ago when India became a part of the mainland Asia while Madagascar was located in its present position in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometers from the east coast of Africa.I visited Madagascar for the first time in 2004 and saw that this fourth largest island in the world, after Greenland, New Guinea, and Borneo, is the habitat of exotic and endemic animals and plants which are totally different from those in the main African continent. Later I discovered that most of the wildlife I saw were threatened species - either critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, or near-threatened. This discovery inspired me to twice return to Madagascar in search of more threatened species. I ventured into several forests of Madagascar from the Amber Mountain National Park in the northernmost part of the country to Berenty Private Reserve in the southernmost and from Tsingy Bemeraha Strict Nature Reserve on the west coast to Andasibe-Mantadia National Park near the east coast and also a visit to Ranomafana National Park in the central part. I was delighted to discover that it was a boon to walking safari in Madagascar because all the dangerous animals and poisonous snakes harmful to humans remained on the African mainland when Madagascar was separated from Africa, making trekking in the forests of Madagascar quite safe.The most well-known endemic mammal of Madagascar are lemurs which are primates. Of the 103 lemur species and subspecies found in Madagascar, the latest assessment of IUCN (International Union on Conservation of Nature) in 2012 has revealed that 91% are threatened with extinction, with 23 species are becoming critically endangered, 52 endangered, 19 vulnerable, and 2 near-threatened, in comparison to the 2005 assessment which listed 63% of 71 lemur species as threatened species being critically endangered 11 species, endangered 16 species, vulnerable 18 species, and the remainders were mostly near threatened.The largest lemur of Madagascar and also of the world is indri, having a head-and-body length of about 68 cm and weight between 6 to 9 kg. Indri, a critically endangered species, can be found mostly in the forest of Andasibe National Park. Indri’s most impressive characteristic is a loud, wailing territorial call during the morning hours which can be heard across the forest for several kilometers. Andasibe National Park is also a habitat of black-and-white ruffed lemur and red ruffed lemur which are also listed asElite+ 33