Like all lemur species, ring-tailed lemurs are endemic to Madagascar, an island off the coast of East Africa. Lemurs are the world’s most endangered group of mammals; they are even the world’s most endangered group of vertebrates. The 2020 IUCN Red List update found that 98% of lemur species are Endangered, and 31% of species are […]
Tag: Lemur
An invasive guava is muscling out Madagascar’s forests — and lemurs are helping
Madagascar is renowned for its lemurs, which are threatened due to hunting and deforestation. Restoring native forests to ensure their survival is critical, but once damaged, forests in Madagascar are vulnerable to takeover by invasive guava trees — whose seeds the lemurs themselves are helping to spread. When the delicious strawberry guavas (Psidium cattleyanum) are […]
“It looks like a porcupine, but has a bird-like beak, a pouch like a kangaroo and lays eggs like a reptile.” 10 weirdest, bizarrest mammals on the planet
Nature defies expectation, with animals boasting strange body parts or survival techniques. From the four-headed penis of the echidna to the pink shell of the pink fairy armadillo, there’s plenty to raise an eyebrow at. Here are some of the weirdest mammals on the planet. Weirdest mammals Echidna (Tachyglossidae) At first glance, the echidna might look like […]
“Complete intoxication.” Lemurs in Madagascar are licking millipedes – and it’s sending them into a “trancelike state”
While many animals in the world are born poisonous (including mammals), some must resort to other techniques to deter predators. The lemur is one of these – and it’s developed an unusual technique to make it unappealing to mosquitoes, which carry the fatal threat of malaria. Madagascar has a thriving population of millipedes, which secrete toxic […]
More than 10,000 species on brink of extinction need urgent action: Study
Extinction is an overwhelming concept, difficult to grasp in its enormity and finality. Thousands of species are barreling toward that grim fate, unless we help. A comprehensive new study provides the clearest picture yet of Earth’s most imperiled species, and offers evidence that conservation can work. The study published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity found that […]
Global Warming Has Already Made Natural Habitats Unsurvivable for 2% of Amphibians: Study
In a new study, researchers determined that 2%, or 104 amphibian species out of 5,203 species studied, are already experiencing overheating events in their natural habitats. The researchers considered different microhabitats of amphibians, including terrestrial, arboreal and aquatic and compared heat tolerance limits of the animals to the actual daily temperature patterns from the past […]
‘Is it “woke” to care about the environment?’: how Trump’s cuts are dismantling global conservation work
When the guns finally fell silent in 1992, little was left alive in Gorongosa national park. During the 15 years of Mozambique’s civil war – in which more than a million people died – the country’s wildlife also paid a terrible price. Poaching for meat and ivory was so intense that the small surviving elephant […]
Georgia Man Arrested for Alleged Exotic Animal Trading Ring
A Georgia man known for his social media presence with exotic pets was arrested on October 17 after authorities uncovered an alleged illegal animal trading ring. JaeQuan Smith Devers, who went by “PetzonWheelz” on Instagram, was taken into custody following a raid on his home that revealed a collection of dangerous and tropical animals, including […]