Wildlife

Lemur Crisis Prompts Conservationist Call-to-Action

Lemurs, which are found only in Madagascar, are the most threatened mammal group on Earth. Up to 94 percent of lemur species are threatened, according to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Red List. The situation has only worsened for these puppy-eyed primates in the wake of the ousting of Madagascar's president in 2009 during a military-backed coup.

Humans have been destroying the lemurs' habitat for thousands of years, but the political upheaval has brought things to a head, Irwin said. International donors withdrew funding from environmental programs, and conservation laws haven't been enforced.

The Malagasy people are some of the poorest in the world, living on less than $2 per day. Following the political crisis, the lemurs' habitat has been under siege from an illegal trade in precious hardwoods, forest burning to clear space for crops and a thriving bushmeat trade.

The remaining forest habitat is an estimated 36,000 square miles (92,200 square kilometres), just 10 to 20 percent of the original forest cover, down from 41,000 square mi. (106,600, square km) in 1990, according to the article. And most of the habitat is inadequately, or not at all, protected.

Lemurs fulfil important ecological roles in maintaining the island's forests, and their loss would likely trigger extinction cascades.

The researchers called for the adoption of an emergency conservation action plan described Aug. 1, 2013, on the IUCN's website. To prevent lemur extinction, the plan calls for community-based, protected-habitat management, promotion of ecotourism and a steady researcher presence in Madagascar.