Taboos on eating lemurs in Madagascar are breaking down

DavidBrown said:
Very interesting report on a new study about the break down of traditional taboos on the hunting and eating of lemurs in Madagascar. It seems that an influx of immigrants and modernization are leading to a rise in bushmeat hunting. Interesting observations from conservationists and locals on how the problem can and is being addressed.

Madagascar's Lemurs, Sacred No More - NYTimes.com
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Given that they are mentioned in this study, that they are large and with a long interval between births, is the time nigh to establish a captive population of indri before they get any rarer?
 
I have an old Bronx Zoo guide that mentions plans to exhibit indris, but the zoo wasn't successful. When I visited Madgascar in 1987, I saw a large enclosure in the Andasibe Reserve. It had housed indris that were destined to go to Paris Zoo. All the indris died and the plan was cancelled. A few months ago, I read about a Madgascar park that included several lemurs, including indris. I believe it was the Parc Ivoloina, although the websites no longer list indris, so it seems that this experiment was unsuccessful.

While I'd like to see a captive population of indris, it doesn't seem that this lemur is suited to captivity, as captives seem to avoid eating.

Hopefully, Madagascar can be helped to develop its economy without destroying its wildlife and natural habitats, but I'm not optiistic considering the current economic climate.
 
As Dassie rat indicates, apparently there is a sad history of indris not surviving in captivity. They are one of the species that truly needs to be saved along with its habitat or it is going the way of the other giant lemurs and the elephant bird:eek:
 
Thanks David. I wonder if there is another way of keeping captive indris, as several other formerly 'difficult' species are now thriving in captivity. It is sad to hear about 122 indris being killed for meat. Apart from the indris that have habituated to people in Perinet, indris aren't easy to find, although local people probbaly hunt them by listening to their melodic calls.
 
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