Lemur Conservation Network
We believe that lemurs can be saved from extinction if we all work together.
Conservation in Madagascar got a big boost this week, as Mamy Razafitsalama of Planet Madagascar won a Whitley Fund for Nature award! The Lemur Conservation Network congratulates Mamy for this great honor. This award is a testament to his hard work and his dedication to lemur conservation in Madagascar. In this blog post, learn more about the award, about Mamy’s work with Planet Madagascar, and how he plans to use the prize money to support conservation. About the Whitley Fund […]
The 2022 World Lemur Festival and World Lemur Day logo features an illustration of the Red Bellied Lemur and the Rufous Mouse Lemur. We spoke to scientist Dr. Stacey Tecot to learn more about these two iconic lemur species. Can you tell us about our two featured species? Where are they found, what do they eat, and are they endangered? Red Bellied Lemur The red-bellied lemurs are a medium-sized lemur species best known for their chestnut brown coat colour, and […]
We interview Ellie Dobbs, a Masters student in Conservation Biology at the University of Kent. Her research studies the variations in perceptions and taboos about aye-ayes in Madagascar. Her undergraduate dissertation is titled “The Aye-Aye Enigma: Analysing the variation in attitudes, beliefs, and customary institutions pertaining to the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis)”. She aimed to deduce existing patterns in attitudes and highlight drivers for these attitudes and perceptions. What is your background, and how did you find yourself studying the lemurs […]
In this post, we learn from Susan Lawrance and Dr. Giuseppe Donati about their recent research on the impact of Covid-19 on conservation projects in Madagascar. Susan Lawrance is from the UK and has just completed an MSc in Primate Conservation. She would like to thank LCN members for giving their time to participate in this study. Dr Giuseppe Donati is a Reader in Primatology. Over the last twenty years he has conducted research on behaviour, ecology, and conservation of […]
Can you describe your role as an evolutionary biologist? What animals do you study? I study the evolution of biological diversity, which includes everything from the process of speciation to the evolution of form and function. I do this mostly in the reptiles and amphibians of Madagascar. These groups are incredibly diverse, and, because the island has been isolated for such a long time, are also globally unique. This makes the herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians) of Madagascar an excellent study […]
We talk with lemur PhD researcher Mariah Donohue about her research in Ranomafana, her time in Madagascar during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her undying love for brown lemurs.
Tell us about your background in lemur research. I am a senior undergraduate student in Sustainable Development from Appalachian State University, graduating in December 2019. I first got interested in conserving Madagascar’s rainforests through working on breaks from school at the Duke Lemur Center. You recently returned from Anjanaharibe Sud Special Reserve in northeast Madagascar. Can you tell us more about this reserve? Anjanaharibe Sud Special Reserve is an incredible place. It is lush, with life booming all around. Thought […]
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 […]
