lemurs

A new analysis by scientists at the Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that lemurs and the North Atlantic right whale are on the brink of extinction. For lemurs, the analysis found that almost one-third of the species in Madagascar are critically endangered while 98 percent are threatened or worse, according to […]

By Andrea L. Baden The island of Madagascar off the southeastern coast of Africa hosts at least 12,000 plant species and 700 vertebrate species, 80% to 90% of which are found nowhere else on Earth. Isolated for the last 88 million years and covering an area approximately the size of the northeastern United States, Madagascar […]

By John R. Platt For years now conservationists have warned that many of Madagascar’s iconic lemur species face the risk of extinction due to rampant deforestation, the illegal pet trade and the emerging market for the primates’ meat. Yes, people eat lemurs, and the reasons they do aren’t exactly what we might expect. One 2016 […]

Ninety-five percent of Earth’s lemur population is threatened, experts warned this week, underscoring their unfortunate position as the world’s most endangered primates. Of the planet’s 111 known lemur species and subspecies, 105 can be provisionally evaluated as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable, a group of primate specialists convened by the International Union for the Conservation […]

By Edward Carver Lemurs in Madagascar have been under pressure from deforestation, poaching, drought and other challenges for years. Now, in the much-visited Berenty Reserve near the island’s southern tip, one species faces a mysterious new threat. In the last month and a half, at least 31 Verreaux’s sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi) have died in the […]