Favourite lemur species

Dassie rat said:
If you can go to Madagascar, you should do so as soon as possible. The forests there are rapidly being destroyed.
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Sadly therein lies the problem, time is not on my side. It is going to be quite a while before I get to Madagascar if I ever do.

I hope that when and if I do get over there for a visit that there will still something left to experience of Madagascar's wildlife / nature...and that indris are still around.
 
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Yes, I had the privilege to travel in Madagascar twice and did see fat tailed dwarf lemurs in the wild too. Madagascar without a tiny shred of doubt is a most amazing island both for its wonderful flora, fauna and variety of landscapes and niche habitats as well as for its singular and diverse peoples' and their cultures!
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Yes, I had the privilege to travel in Madagascar twice and did see fat tailed dwarf lemurs in the wild too. Madagascar without a tiny shred of doubt is a most amazing island both for its wonderful flora, fauna and variety of landscapes and niche habitats as well as for its singular and diverse peoples' and their cultures!
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Must be brilliant to see this species in the wild !

Hope to visit there day and see some of that diversity and variety myself one day.
 
Dassie rat said:
If you can go to Madagascar, you should do so as soon as possible. The forests there are rapidly being destroyed.
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Even in the face of adversity, I am not that much of a sceptic. Humankind will kill itself off way back before as we ourselves create an unliveable Planet and refuse to adapt our behaviour in the face and reality we destroy it. Ultimately, if we do not redress, repair and restore Planet Earth, we will die out as a species and having only ourselves to blame for it.

Yes, there is this infinite relationship between humankind - a control freak rationale we can somehow control our environment and penultimate everlasting economic growth beyond wildest dreams (the irrationale capacity of the human spirit and brain, we do have limits you know and intelligence in nature is not the key factor in survival of the fittest) - with our innate ability to deny the all encompassing impact and environmental damage we are inflicting upon our living environment. TBH the current population numbers for our species Homo sapiens on Planet Earth are wild and unsustainable. Question remains: We do actually know this, we can actually try to addressing the issues, yet will we really make that effort (instead of just talking and talking and talking).

With regards to Madagascar: there are a myriad of small scale and up scaled initiatives for reforestation, habitat restoration and taking adequate care of the needs of the local people. I remain a firm believer in the rationale that local ownership will create change. Any outside interests are only able to look at economics and growth potentials - in other words extraction and habitat destruction and inevitable environmental catastrophe as the end stage.

Think of this simple notion: Why are we talking about a deer crossing our roads? Why oh why? Do we really heed the call who was there in there in the first instance and who actually owns the forest? In all fairness, we humankind are trespassing into the deer's habitat and we do not suffer its consequences!

Half Earth - Edward O. Wilson - be a good read to start with!
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Even in the face of adversity, I am not that much of a sceptic. Humankind will kill itself off way back before as we ourselves create an unliveable Planet and refuse to adapt our behaviour in the face and reality we destroy it. Ultimately, if we do not redress, repair and restore Planet Earth, we will die out as a species and having only ourselves to blame for it.

Yes, there is this infinite relationship between humankind - a control freak rationale we can somehow control our environment and penultimate everlasting economic growth beyond wildest dreams (the irrationale capacity of the human spirit and brain, we do have limits you know and intelligence in nature is not the key factor in survival of the fittest) - with our innate ability to deny the all encompassing impact and environmental damage we are inflicting upon our living environment. TBH the current population numbers for our species Homo sapiens on Planet Earth are wild and unsustainable. Question remains: We do actually know this, we can actually try to addressing the issues, yet will we really make that effort (instead of just talking and talking and talking).
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Great post as usual kifaru !

I have to agree with you that human extinction does indeed look ever more in the cards as we reach and cross several crucial environmental tipping points.

I've read E.O. Wilson's "Half Earth" and I found it to be a brilliant book and like you I would encourage everyone to read it. However, I do find his advocacy of humanity giving over half of the earth's surface to preserve biodiversity to be extremely idealistic and I can't imagine this sort of planetary concern and altriusm becoming civilizationally ascendant over the short term thinking and greed of our species (even if I essentially agree with him that this would be a desireable outcome).

* By the way , were the fat tailed lemurs difficult to spot in the wild ?
 
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I agree, OC

For many governments, money is far more important than the environment. The coronavirus will be used as an excuse for not spending more money on the environment. There will be no problems finding money to benefit the rich.
 
Dassie rat said:
I agree, OC

For many governments, money is far more important than the environment. The coronavirus will be used as an excuse for not spending more money on the environment. There will be no problems finding money to benefit the rich.
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From what I've read the coronavirus is currently driving a lot of socio-ecological problems in Madagascar (as it is sadly all over the world) as it has devastated the eco-tourism industry which is a very important source of circulation of capital in the country.
 
Dassie rat said:
I read recently that the money Madagascar requires to offset the loss due to the devastated eco-tourism industry is not as big as I thought it would be and could be paid by the richest nations.
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That is encouraging news but the question (as always) is will the world's richest nations pay this ?

I hope they do of course but I don't necessarily believe they will.
 
I have not read Half Earth - it's on my list - but I have always found the idea of protecting half of Earth's surface to be idealistic - and what happens to the other half, it gets essentially destroyed? I do want as much of it as possible to be protected, but I do think there is another solution that would be easier for humankind - making the places we use better for wildlife. Get rid of lawns, plant native plants, ect. If done right most places that we right now see as destroyed (such as suburbs) could become a haven for wildlife. I recommend reading Nature's Best Hope by Doug Tallamy.
 
birdsandbats said:
I have not read Half Earth - it's on my list - but I have always found the idea of protecting half of Earth's surface to be idealistic - and what happens to the other half, it gets essentially destroyed? I do want as much of it as possible to be protected, but I do think there is another solution that would be easier for humankind - making the places we use better for wildlife. Get rid of lawns, plant native plants, ect. If done right most places that we right now see as destroyed (such as suburbs) could become a haven for wildlife. I recommend reading Nature's Best Hope by Doug Tallamy.
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Perhaps the best option (if it could be achieved) would be a combination of both ?

I haven't read "Nature's best hope" yet but it sounds interesting and I'll put it on my "to read" list.
 
birdsandbats said:
I have not read Half Earth - it's on my list - but I have always found the idea of protecting half of Earth's surface to be idealistic - and what happens to the other half, it gets essentially destroyed? I do want as much of it as possible to be protected, but I do think there is another solution that would be easier for humankind - making the places we use better for wildlife. Get rid of lawns, plant native plants, ect. If done right most places that we right now see as destroyed (such as suburbs) could become a haven for wildlife. I recommend reading Nature's Best Hope by Doug Tallamy.
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@birdsandbats, essentially what you are saying is we have usurped Earth and the damage done. What I am most notably Prof.Dr. Edward O. Wilson is advocating we actually repair the damage we do by vacating the natural spaces we have invaded. The first approach is the down-trodden and in denial that we are destroying the living landscape 100% and not offering a fundamental solution, just a ... ah well we do something here and there and that will suit us find to create some environmentally friendly space within our humanoid badlands. I just does not work like that.

Time for change and re-think: the deer is not crossing our road, we are making in-roads into the natural forest the deer and other wildlife are living in.

The book Prof.Dr. E.O. Wilson wrote is not idealistic, it is written with a dumb headed accuracy how far we have impacted our Living Planet and if, and this is a Big If, if we are to survive as a species and live on this Planet Earth going forward from 2020 into the distant future we must vacate that space - lest we create the parameters for our very own extinction - in order to have a biodiverse and species rich Planet Earth we may be able to live on.

It is the very same thing with all the modern cons like climate change, plastics pollution, mining degradation, deforestation and clearcutting wildlands, sustainable development and biodiversity loss, if we do not repair we create our own graves. It is no longer a choice of our choosing out of convenience sake, it is a bare necessity to change our very ways fundamentally.


BTW: I am not in the "habit" of prophesying the apocalyps nor anything religious (even if by the above you might think I recently picked up some of the Nostradamus essays - I am and remain so till this day a non religious fiercely independent humanist believing in equality, justice and diversity.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I suppose we should get back on topic now!

My second best favorites are the aye aye and any species of the sifak family tree (which IMO includes the famous indri).
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It is very much on topic , don't worry ;) , afterall lemurs are threatened by human expansion into natural areas and agricultural conversion of these habitats.

ThylacineAlive said:
Does anybody exclude Indri from Indriidae?

~Thylo
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Good question , I haven't heard of it before.
 
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