When people think about the conservation of animals, one of the animals people don't typically think about are lemurs. 90 of the known 101 known species are at risk of extinction. One thing contributing to their endangerment is the destruction of territories. Lemurs reside only in Madagascar and human settlement on Madagascar has greatly impacted the species. The rising rate of poverty over the past twenty years has lead to the increase in illegal logging. Much of the natural habitat has been destroyed and left very fragmented. Political unrest means that previous environmental laws placed for conservation have been ignored, these laws are left unenforced. Surprisingly, lemurs are also hunted for their meat.
One of the problems in efforts to conserve lemurs is that they can regulate their breeding. When their environment is being destroyed and food supplies are dwindling, they will not have children. The promotion of education, reforestation, and environmental research and laws. Though it is illegal, lemurs on the island are still kept captive as a means of tourism and domestication. If we can teach people the effects this on lemur populations, hopefully they will start to be released. Another issue is land, as only 10% of madagascar's original forests remain, it would be hard to just release more lemurs into a system that cannot fit them. Some wildlife conservation have begun creating Madagascar like forest conditions for captive lemurs to be released in. There is still more to understand and of to help the lemurs, but hopefully we can become more conscious of the issues and start to do our part (no matter how small).
One of the problems in efforts to conserve lemurs is that they can regulate their breeding. When their environment is being destroyed and food supplies are dwindling, they will not have children. The promotion of education, reforestation, and environmental research and laws. Though it is illegal, lemurs on the island are still kept captive as a means of tourism and domestication. If we can teach people the effects this on lemur populations, hopefully they will start to be released. Another issue is land, as only 10% of madagascar's original forests remain, it would be hard to just release more lemurs into a system that cannot fit them. Some wildlife conservation have begun creating Madagascar like forest conditions for captive lemurs to be released in. There is still more to understand and of to help the lemurs, but hopefully we can become more conscious of the issues and start to do our part (no matter how small).
