Extended habitat for the greater bamboo lemur: NGOs
 
 
October 5, 2009

 
A Coquerel's sifaka, an endangered, acrobatic, tree-dwelling Lemur 
named for its distinctive alarm call, holds on to a tree trunk at the 
Ankafarantsika national park in 2008.
 
A Coquerel's sifaka, an endangered, acrobatic, tree-dwelling Lemur 
named for its distinctive alarm call, holds on to a tree trunk at the 
Ankafarantsika national park in 2008.
Photograph by: Gregoire Pourtier, AFP

NAIROBI – One of the world's most endangered primates, the greater 
bamboo lemur, a species endemic to Madagascar, has been found in an 
area where it was feared extinct, environmental organisations said 
Monday.

The species, "prolemur simus", has been found at 11 sites in a swathe 
of forest in the east of the island.

This finding opens "a new chapter for the species and for the places we 
can protect it by preserving the forest as the main problem is loss of 
habitat," Mahaoly Ravaloharimanitra, a research assistant at the 
Aspinall Foundation, told AFP.

Illegal logging and slash-and-burn agriculture are among the practices 
that threaten the survival of this species. Primate specialists say 
that while this type of lemur was once found throughout this Indian 
Ocean island, now no more than 300 individuals are still in existence.

As its common name suggests, prolemur simus feeds mainly on bamboo, 
which limits its habitat options.

"They are very secretive, which makes it difficult to approach them and 
protect them. Most of the time we don't see the animal, just traces of 
food or droppings," Tovanahary Rasolofoharivelo from Conservation 
International told AFP.

The greater bamboo lemur was thought to be extinct until it was 
rediscovered in the 1980s, the two associations said in a statement.

On Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:16:20 -0700, abc  wrote:

>
>Extended habitat for the greater bamboo lemur: NGOs
> 
> 
>October 5, 2009
. . .
>The greater bamboo lemur was thought to be extinct until it was 
>rediscovered in the 1980s, the two associations said in a statement.

"It is illogical and inadmissible to "consider" the lives 
(existence) of livestock, or of any other creature" - "Dutch"

"WIldlife, like livestock, happen to be living creatures, 
their lives per se are not relevant to this issue." - "Dutch"