Lemur Conservation Links

Updated April 17, 1998.

Conservation Organizations

• Duke University Primate Center Duke has the largest collection of lemurs in the world, and is actively involved in lemur conservation both in the U.S. and in Madagascar. There is plenty of information about lemurs on this WWW site, I know, heck, I put much of the information on one of the early versions of their WWW site!
• American Zoological and Aquarium Association's (AZA) Madagascar Fauna Goup is an international consortium of zoological institutions concerned with the conservation of all classes of Malagasy fauna, particularly those whose populations are falling below viable minimums.
• Wildlife Preservation Trust International This is the American branch of the late Gerald Durrell's Group with its Zoo on the Isle of Jersey, England. The WPTI is fairly active in funding conservation projects in Madagascar.
• Conservation International CI is actively involved in many aspects of conservation in Madagascar. Two of their more outstanding accomplishments are the use of debt-for-nature swaps and the publication of the excellent Lemurs of Madagascar field guide (available from the Primate Center gift shop).
• Missouri Botanical Garden The Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the more active groups engaged in conservation efforts in Madagascar. It's WWW site has
  • a spectacular photoessay on Madagascar's biodiversity by David Parks with 180 photos,
  • photos of Madagascar plant families, and
  • an excellent review of Madagascar vegetation.
• The Wildlife Conservation Society (headquartered at the Bronx Zoo) has several research and conservation projects in Madagascar. (Look in "Field conservation projects at the site"):
  • Masoala National Park management and community forest zone management (WCS/CARE/ANGAP/DEF/Peregrine Fund/Stanford Center for Conservation Biology/USAID) -- Claire Kremen, Philip Guillery, Vincent Razafimahatratra, Matthew Hatchwell.
  • Phylogenetic relationships of the four endemic tortoises of Madagascar -- George Amato, John Behler, Adalgisa Caccon.
  • Biodiversity inventory and professional training -- Claire Kremen, Vincent Razafimahatratra
  • Ruffed lemur taxonomy and conservation (WCS/AMNH) -- Hilary Simons Morland, George Amato, Rob deSalle
• California-Madagascar Alliance - This is a small group of folks in the S.F. Bay area looking for small projects to support. The current focus is on a solar cooker project. For more information, contact Edward Metz.
• The Peregrine Fund In 1995, Peregrine Fund biologists re-discovered the Madagascar Serpent-Eagle and the Madagascar Red Owl after their not having been seen for 60 years and 30 years, respectively! The Peregrine Fund has a Madagascar Program with two major projects in Madagascar:
  • The Wetland Conservation Project is seeking to create the nation's first Wetland Biosphere Reserve. The goal is to protect the last remaining wetland stronghold of the Madagascar Fish-Eagle.
  • The Masoala project is on the Masoala Peninsula seeks to protect the largest contiguous block of rain forest remaining in Madagascar. The project will protect enough rain forest to sustain populations of the endangered Madagascar Serpent-Eagle and Madagascar Red Owl.
• African Bird Club This is a bird club of about 900 members located in Great Britain. It publishes bulletins including those about Madagascar birds, most recently an article on Madagascar ground-rollers (with a lovely photo of a Crossley's Ground-roller, Atelornis crossleyi).
• Aquatic Conservation Network This is an international organization dedicated to the conservation of aquatic life and with a focus on freshwater fishes. ACN recently established a Madagascar Program which is a pilot initiative in conservation and captive breeding of endangered fish. The headquarters of ACN are in Ottowa, Canada. Those interested in Madagascar fish should also check out the AZA's Madagascar fish "Conservation Spotlight".
• World Wildlife Fund The WWF often has various projects going on in Madagascar. Check out the web pages of the international WWF headquarters as well as the U.S. chapter of WWF.
• IUCN (The World Conservation Union) This is the principle international conservation organization with headquarters in Switzerland. It has both nations and conservation groups as members. It is particularly relevant to lemur conservation because the IUCN's 1994 Red List of Threatened Animals. The IUCN also has its international Species Survival Commission. This group has SSC Specialist Groups including of particular relevance to the DUPC:.
  • the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, and
  • and its Primate Specialist Group (no Web site)

• U.S. Peace Corps - Madagascar Program
• Volunteers in Technical Assistance, a U.S. based group has a Madagascar Integrated Conservation Development Project focusing on protecting biodiversity in the Andasibe-Mantadia Protected Area.

Madagascar Links

• Madagascar Embassy in Washington, D.C. This site contains lots of information about visas, vaccinations, transportation, lodging, tours, and everything else you might want to know about traveling to Madagascar.

Pictures of Lemurs & other Primates

First, check out DUPC's own on-line lemur gallery! If you want more pictures, check out the following WWW sites:

• Primate Gallery which has nice pictures and discussions about:
  • Crowned Lemur
  • Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta),
  • Black and white ruffed lemur,
  • Red ruffed lemur
  • Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascarensis)
  • Verreaux's sifaka (Propithecus verrauxi),
  • Indri (Indri indri),
• AZA Madagascar Fauna Group's Lemur Gallery
• Stanford Lemur Gallery
• Godric's Lemur Sights and Sounds. This site not only has some photos, it also has audio recordings of indri howls and brown lemur grunts that you can play with common browser plug-ins!
• The Primate Info Net collection of Primate Images

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