Endangered Animals

Madagascar’s lowland forest is one of the most diverse forests with high levels of endemism. There are all five families of Malagasy primates, all five families of lemurs, 165 bird species, 50 species of reptiles, and 29 species of amphibians. A big portion of these species are endemic and cannot be found anywhere else in the world. One endangered animal is one of the largest living lemurs, the Indri lemur. It weighs between 13 to 21 pounds and has greenish eyes with a black face framed with fuzzy ears.  The lemurs live in large groups with several generations but due to habitat fragmentation which limits the mobility and capacity of such large groups, they are broken into smaller units.  Because of slash and burn agriculture, fuelwood gathering, and logging lemurs are threatened by habitat destruction and fragmentation. Not only this, but they are widely hunted for food and their flesh which could be sold.

Indri lemur in Madagascar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indri_indri_001.jpg

1. "Eastern Madagascar." Wildlife Conservation, Endangered Species Conservation. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2012. <http://worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/at0117>.
2. Harper, Francis. Extinct and Vanishing Mammals of the Old World. New York: American Committee for International Wild Life Protection, 1945. Print.