Madagascar’s endangered lemurs are being killed during pandemic lockdowns
Early data paints a troubling picture for these animals and their habitat.
Mouse lemurs such as critically endangered Microcebus berthae are so small they can fit in the palm of your hand. As people have been turning to forests for food and fuel during the pandemic, exacerbating decades of deforestation, Madagascar’s 107 known species of lemurs are at even greater risk.Photograph by Bruno DAmicis, National Geographic
ByDina Fine Maron
Email
Tiana Andriamanana was alarmed when she saw the fires swallowing Madagascar’s forests in March. She’d grown used to seeing illegal burns for agricultural expansion, but such widespread blazes so early in the year were extremely unusual.
Madagascar’s endangered lemurs are being killed during pandemic lockdowns Dina Fine Maron
Mouse lemurs such as critically endangered
Microcebus berthae are so small they can fit in the palm of your hand. As people have been turning to forests for food and fuel during the pandemic, exacerbating decades of deforestation, Madagascar’s 107 known species of lemurs are at even greater risk.
Tiana Andriamanana was alarmed when she saw the fires swallowing Madagascar’s forests in March. She’d grown used to seeing illegal burns for agricultural expansion, but such widespread blazes so early in the year were extremely unusual.