Imagine living next door to a tiger, puma or crocodile, or a lemur, mountain lion, honey badger or ostrich. Strange as it may sound, there are at least 2,500 wild animals in private collections in England, including snakes and scorpions, 300 wild cats, more than 200 primates – and even two elephants. As exotic pet […]
Tag: Lemur
Technology makes studying wildlife easier, but access isn’t equal
Studying primates in the wild has historically been a tough task. Alexander Piel knows the challenges too well. Since 2005, the biological anthropologist has been studying primates in countries like Tanzania, Madagascar, Kenya and Senegal. For one, the vastly diverse habitats made it difficult to track them: while some live in dense tropical forests, many […]
World’s smallest primate is fading into extinction, scientists fear
The world’s tiniest primate, the Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae), a creature small enough to curl inside a human fist, could soon disappear as the human imprint on its forest habitat grows. Since 2018, surveyors deployed at the lemur’s preferred habitat in Madagascar’s western dry forests have failed to spot the animal, stoking fears […]
POLL: Should primates be protected from the exotic pet trade?
Monkeys and other primates, like lemurs and lorises, might not be the most common pets we find in households across the U.S., but the trade widespread and it’s causing both suffering for them, and posing dangers to us. According to the Animal Welfare Institute, it’s conservatively estimated that there are somewhere in the neighborhood of […]
Millipedes might soothe itchy lemurs, research finds
Pesky itchiness caused by parasitic worms may have driven one of Madagascar’s lemur species to come up with a natural remedy. New research, published July 30 in the journal Primates, suggests that red-fronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) apply millipede secretions to parts of their bodies, a process called “self-anointment.” “Self-anointment combined with eating millipede secretions may […]
Sifaka lemurs listed as “critically endangered” amid mysterious die-off
Lemurs in Madagascar have been under pressure from deforestation, poaching, drought and other challenges for years. Now, in the much-visited Berenty Reserve near the island’s southern tip, one species faces a mysterious new threat. In the last month and a half, at least 31 Verreaux’s sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi) have died in the reserve. Most were […]