Lemurs are quite extraordinary creatures whose curious outlook toward life and adorable appearance make them interesting to study. Dr. Patricia Wright found this out for herself when she came to Madagascar with a quest. “I first came to Madagascar to solve a mystery”, Dr. Wright says, “about a lemur we feared had gone extinct. My mission was to find it. The greater bamboo lemur once lived throughout Madagascar but hadn’t been seen in 50 years. I searched for months and never saw a single one. I had almost given up, when I got to Ranomafana. Then one morning… there he was. Alive. Feasting on his favorite treat: crunchy, young bamboo shoots.” Ever since her discovery, Dr. Wright has made it her mission to preserve the wild rainforests of Madagascar and has devoted her life to protecting the animals that call it home… especially lemurs.
Dr. Wright devoted her life to protecting the creatures she cares about most:
Despite the fact that Madagascar’s national animal is a ring-tailed lemur, and that lemurs are sacred to the people, the lemurs’ forests are being burned down. The people of Madagascar purposefully do this to clear land for zebu (a breed of cattle) to graze, and for farmland. 90% of its forests have already been burned down for these purposes. Often the fires grow out of control and burn much more land then was necessary. Dr. Wright states, “Before I was a scientist, I was a social worker in Brooklyn. It’s my nature to solve problems. And in Madagascar, humans and lemurs have the same problem: limited resources that they both need.”
Madagascar fires destroy forests that lemurs call home:
Patricia’s headquarters are at the Centre ValBio; a state-of-the-art research center on the edge of Ranomafana National Park. Here she trains a new generation of scientists to build a stable future for the lemurs. “The greater bamboo lemur has a special place in my heart.” says Patricia, “They’re not the most famous lemur, and they’re not the most beautiful… but they have this mischievous charm that I just fell in love with.” The national park holds the only two lemurs of this variety that are in a protected forest. “For this species to survive, I have to help this family now. They need new mates from outside the park. And I’ll have to play lemur matchmaker.”
Beautiful Ranomafana National Park:
After months of tireless searching for more of these rare lemurs, Patricia’s team finally found a group of them. “When we reached the lemurs, fires were burning throughout the forest, and I hoped we weren’t too late.” They rescued them just in time, and back at headquarters, the lemurs were sedated and examined, making sure that they were happy and healthy. Then, the creatures were soon brought to an enclosure inside the park so that they could get used to their new environment before meeting the locals. A day later, the two lemurs discovered the new arrivals, and they seemed to hit it off. Dr. Wright has high hopes, saying, “If all goes well, next year we’ll have babies in the park. That’s how we’re going to save these lemurs. One generation at a time.”
Adorable Greater Bamboo Lemur:
The future for lemurs is starting to look brighter, thanks to people like Dr. Wright. More villagers have begun stopping fires instead of starting them. Younger generations are teaching their elders about how important it is to conserve the forests lemurs call home. Patricia says, “The more I get to know lemurs, the more I love them. And I want to share these incredible animals with the world.” It’s up to us to keep these amazing creatures alive for future generations to enjoy. Hopefully more people like Dr. Wright will fight for the preservation of not only lemurs, but other animals that are going extinct. If you want to learn more about Madagascar and the amazing story of lemur’s fight for survival, be sure to watch the IMAX film Island of Lemurs Madagascar, and feel free to comment your thoughts!