Lemurs News

In the forests of northern Madagascar, scientists have discovered a new species of dwarf lemur. The newly described Ankarana or Sheth’s dwarf lemur is tiny, weighing just over 100 grams.…

The Year of the Monkey has just ended, and won’t come around again for another 12 years. In the meantime, what is happening with our closest living relatives, the nonhuman…

Gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans -- our great ape cousins teeter on the precipice of extinction. And it’s not much of a secret that we humans have had a lot to do…

This being the last Mongabay Newscast of the year, we’re doing it a little different. Instead of the top news, we’re bringing you the top new species discoveries of the…

Large industrial development projects such as hydroelectric dams, oil palm plantations, and mines have an unavoidable impact on the local environment, which in turn can have huge repercussions for biodiversity.…

“I can get you a lemur if you want one,” said a sun-hardened Malagasy man after finishing up an interview, via translator, about his history of hunting lemurs. He could…

In March 2015, Charlie Gardner and his wife were performing a bird survey for the marine conservation organisation Blue Ventures deep in the mangroves of northwest Madagascar. They went for…

There are now 24 known species of mouse lemur, all of them found in Madagascar. Scientists with the German Primate Center (DPZ), the University of Kentucky, the American Duke Lemur…

[See the 2017 report here.] Every two years, primate experts compile a report that highlights 25 primates that are in severe crisis. These are the most endangered monkeys, apes and…

This month, Ash Dykes is setting off on a 1,800-mile trek along the length of Madagascar to attract conservation attention to the critically endangered northern sportive lemur.

Dr. Charlie Gardner, a conservation researcher at the University of Kent, UK and his wife, Louise Jasper, a nature photographer, have lived on the island of Madagascar for a decade,…

Indri Lemur. Photo by David Cook. Good news on the environmental front in Madagascar has been rare and fleeting in recent years, but today the Indian Ocean island's Prime Minister…

Chocolate company collaborates with NGO to conserve Madagascar's iconic wildlife while helping bolster the prospects of a long-overlooked reserve Madécasse produces chocolate bars from cocoa grown and processed in Madagascar.…

Could a website save the world's lemurs? Indri lemur (Indri indri). Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Last year, scientists released an emergency three-year plan that they argued could, quite literally,…

Coquerel's Sifaka (Propithecus coquereli) September 1 is World Primate Day, a designation intended to raise awareness about apes, monkeys, and prosimians like lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers. Many non-human primates are…

Innovation in Tropical Forest Conservation: Q&A with Susie McGuire and Dr. Ed Louis Jr. Ed Louis (left) and Susie McGuire (right) with aye-aye. Photo courtesy of the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership…

The famous ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) is now listed as Endangered, one of 90 lemur species currently considered threatened with extinction. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Experts have added 817…

Patricia Wright attends a cocktail reception at the Mission to the UN of Madagascar, May 15, 2014 in New York. INSIDER IMAGES/Gary He. Lemur expert Patricia C. Wright has become…

Ring-talked lemur: the national animal symbol of Madagascar. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. In the fight for conservation Madagascar is without a doubt on the front lines. Not only are…

Left to right – Soundtrack artist Hanitrarivo Rasoanaivo, director David Douglas, writer/producer Drew Fellman, narrator Morgan Freeman and Patricia C. Wright greet the gathered crowd outside the California Science Center…

One of the world's biggest populations of greater bamboo lemurs (Prolemur simus)—sometimes known as the panda lemur—has doubled in just three years, giving conservationists new hope that the species can…

Verreaux's Sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi), listed as Vulnerable, in a heated chase. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Due to the wonderful idiosyncrasies of evolution, there is one country on Earth that…

The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), perhaps the most well-known of Madagascar’s endemic animals, is facing a "very high" risk of extinction in the wild. The Madagascar Section of the IUCN…

Lemurs in a cave in Madagascar. Photo by Rhett A. Butler After playing, feeding, and socializing in trees all day, some ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) take their nightly respite in…

Raising young lemurs in communal crèches benefits both mothers and offspring, a new study has found. Andrea Baden and colleagues, of Yale University, studied a group of black-and-white ruffed lemurs…

Primatologists and researchers have devised a wide-ranging plan to protect Madagascar's most endangered lemurs from extinction. The plan, produced by the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, aims to reverse declining population…

Does size matter? When referring to primate brain size and its relation to social intelligence, scientists at Duke University do not think the answer is a simple yes or no.…

Researchers have discovered a new — and critically endangered — species of lemur on the island of Madagascar. The primate is formally described in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.…

Madagascar's first people may not have driven the island's largest animals to extinction, suggests new study. New research indicates that Madagascar was occupied some 2,500 years earlier than previously established.…

Solitary lemurs in Madagascar rely on the alarm calls of birds and more social lemurs to evade predators, reports a study published in PLoS ONE. Researchers from Bristol University, Bristol…