As a scientist and conservationist, I love best those moments when knowledge from many projects come together to tell us something critical to our understanding of the natural world, with far-reaching consequences for wildlife and conservation. One such study was published early this year in the science journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Sarah Federman and colleagues, and has such far reaching implications that it was covered in Smithsonian Magazine, IFLS, and the Huffington Post, to […]
In my last blog post I introduced our ring tailed lemur group and their progress on target training for weighing sessions. As mentioned, this is perfect cognitive enrichment for them as they are intelligent animals. But what works for one sub species does not always work for others.
I first started loving lemurs when I went on my fourth grade class field trip to The Giraffe Ranch in Dade City, Florida. We got to see a bunch of cool animals and have encounters with wildlife. We saw a rhinoceros get a bath. We fed the giraffes. And an ostrich came right up to our bus. But my favorite encounter was with the ring-tailed lemurs. They were sweet and funny. As we left, they all sat in a little circle […]
At Combe Martin Wildlife Park we care for a group of ring-tailed, black and white ruffed, and red ruffed lemurs. My role as a zookeeper involves everything from preparing the animals’ food, producing exciting enrichment to present it in, to health checking, cleaning and training our groups of lemurs. Believe me when I say that no day is the same! Turning My Love of Lemurs into a Career as a Zookeeper My love of lemurs first manifested four years ago […]
June is National Zoo and Aquarium Month in the United States. To celebrate, here are some reasons why zoos are vital to lemur conservation, and will play an ever-increasing role in the story of lemur conservation going forward.
Tell me a bit about the threats to biodiversity in Sahamalaza and the programs that respond to those threats? As everywhere, the main threat is habitat loss. In Sahamalaza, it’s slash-and-burn agriculture for rice cultivation. There’s the ever increasing threat of poaching as well. It was first primarily a threat for the blue-eyed black lemur because they are bigger and cathemeral so you could hunt them during the day. However, since we’ve been out there it’s become more and more […]
How did you get started working with lemurs in Madagascar? I was in the right room at the right time. I had just finished my PhD on lemurs in zoos. My PhD supervisor happened to be the vice president of an association that was conducting lemur research and conservation for lemurs in Madagascar. Cologne Zoo, where I did my PhD, was one of the founding members of the zoo consortium. Because its director was my PhD supervisor, I was taking […]
Introduction to the Film Madagascar’s ecosystem is one of the most threatened on the planet. A nation comprised of subsistence farmers, most Malagasy people do not have the luxury to see beyond their daily needs to consider the long-term consequences of deforestation. Nevertheless, there is an air of optimism in the small village of Andasibe. The film follows the grassroots efforts of community members galvanized to save not only their landscape, but also their longevity as a community. Their solution? […]
