For Malagasy trapped in poverty, threatened lemurs and fossas are fair game

[UngulateNerd92]

• Half of nearly 700 households surveyed in a recent study in Makira National Park in Madagascar reported eating lemur meat and a quarter had consumed fossa meat.
• The research conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society relied on indirect questioning and revealed unusually high levels of consumption of meat from the fossa, Madagascar’s top predator.
• Hunting pressure combined with shrinking habitats could lead to the local extinction of the indri, a critically endangered species and the largest living lemur, along with three other lemur species in the park.
• WCS’s current research will feed into a “behavior change campaign” to promote alternatives to hunting like poultry and fish farming, and harvesting of edible insects.

In Madagascar’s jungles, the fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is king. A cousin of the mongoose, this cat-like creature is the island’s top predator, able to hunt Madagascar’s other unique offering to the world: lemurs.

Humans feed on both. The problem: lemurs and fossas are threatened and endemic species protected under Malagasy law. About half of the households surveyed in a recent study reported eating lemur meat and a quarter had consumed fossa meat.

Consumption of wild meat is considered a major threat to conservation efforts by protected area managers in other parts of Africa too. To design an intervention to reduce hunting pressure, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) interviewed people living in and around Makira Natural Park (MNP). They wanted to gauge the significance of lemur and fossa meat in local diets.

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...reatened-lemurs-and-fossas-are-fair-game/amp/

 

[PossumRoach]

WCS’s current research will feed into a “behavior change campaign” to promote alternatives to hunting like poultry and fish farming, and harvesting of edible insects.

“Behavioral change”? That doesn’t sound creepy at all.

 

[Dassie rat]

The pandemic has led to a loss of many millions from tourism. The lost money could easily be paid by the richest nations, which could also invest money into protecting the natural habitats and their wildlife.

Unfortunately, the way things are going, I can see Madagascar following the same route as Ethiopia, where forest destruction led to the loss of habitat. Agricultural land soon became unsuitable for crop production and many people starved to death. Please note that some of this was due to a corrupt government.