But one thing is clear, Welch says: If there’s no forest, there will be no aye-aye. “You’re dealing with people who are just trying to feed their families.”īecause aye-ayes are so difficult to study, it’s tough to say how much of a threat fady killings or trade in bushmeat are to the survival of the species. “It’s very complex from a conservation point of view,” says Welch, who now serves as the conservation coordinator for the Duke Lemur Center. Similarly, hunting animals-even endangered ones-may be the only way some people have to supply their families with iron and protein. This practice threatens already declining populations of endemic species, leads to erosion and pollution of water sources, and ultimately contributes to climate change. In many of these places, people have learned to survive by slashing and burning the forest to make way for crops such as rice and manioc. And the numbers are even worse for secondary school.įurthermore, almost 65 percent of the island nation’s inhabitants live in rural areas. According to statistics provided by UNICEF, only 60 percent of children enrolled in first grade will complete their primary school education. More than 95 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
While the country is comparable in size to Sweden, Madagascar posts a Gross Domestic Product lower than countries such as Afghanistan and North Korea. Sadly, it’s not uncommon for lemurs to find their way onto the dinner plate. “But if people are hungry, they’re going to eat,” Louis says.
The aye-aye is “all head and tail,” skin and bone. That’s surprising, not only because of the stigma surrounding the aye-aye but also because Louis says the animals barely have any meat on them. The team believes this particular animal was killed for its meat. Buried within was the collar, cut in two and dabbled in blood. The tracking signal led them to a pile of fresh dirt nearby. And then there’s a third scenario.Ī few years ago, Louis and his colleagues were tracking a collar, but when they arrived at the nest, there was no aye-aye to be found. In another, it may lead people to kill aye-ayes and string them up at the edge of the village to ward off evil spirits. In one area of Madagascar, fady might protect the animals by making locals avoid the creatures out of fear. Edward Louis, director of conservation genetics at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, says this elusiveness probably has a lot to do with the aye-aye’s distribution and social habits.Īn aye-aye, strung up to ward off evil spirits. In the 1930s and '40s, it was actually thought that the animals had gone extinct, so few and far between were sightings of the cryptic creatures.Įven for people who live in or near their habitat, coming across the animals can be rare. We don’t know how many of the animals may be left, but the population is generally assumed to be trending downwards. The aye-aye is considered endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. “They’re very good at what they do, but they’ve ended up not being the prettiest at what they do,” Smith says.
Blocks of wood with holes drilled in them and then sealed up full of wax worms let the aye-ayes practice their tapping. Peanut-butter-and-plywood sandwiches force the animals to gnaw through wood to get their treat. In one area of Madagascar, fady might protect the animals by making locals avoid the creatures out of fear.īack at the Duke Lemur Center, Smith says they have come up with all sorts of contraptions for the captive aye-ayes to simulate foraging. If it finds one, a specialized claw on the end of the finger hooks the larva and whisks it away to the aye-aye’s mouth. The finger slips into the tree trunk and snakes around looking for grubs.