On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast we discuss a proposed rare earth mining project in Madagascar that worries both lemurs and locals, and we also speak with a researcher…
A 350-kilometer drive away from the frenzy of the nearest city, the thatched desert village of Lavavolo, Madagascar seems to lie in infinite stillness. But homeostasis is never a given.…
AMPASINDAVA PENINSULA, Madagascar — Solondraza, a 63-year-old farmer in northwestern Madagascar, has led a mostly conflict-free life. He and his wife live in a small house made of ravinala, a…
ALAOTRA-MANGORO, Madagascar — Mines, legal or not, are born, die, and spring back to life all over Madagascar. It has been this way since the 1990s. Some become famous, such…
Conservationists are struggling to determine the status of Madagascar’s most iconic primate. A series of recent studies warning of sharp ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) declines stirred up a scientific debate…
Malaysian customs officials have seized 330 tortoises that were smuggle into the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The tortoises, which included 325 Radiated tortoises as well as five Ploughshare tortoises, were…
Clovis Razafimalala heads Lampogno, an organization seeking an end to illegal rosewood trafficking in northeastern Madagascar. Charged with unauthorized rebellion and burning state files and property during a protest he…
In a major reversal late last month, a high court in Singapore found Wong Wee Keong and his company, Kong Hoo, guilty of illegally importing rosewood from Madagascar, after a…
One of the most iconic primate species on the planet is quickly disappearing. Once widely distributed across Madagascar, only 2,000-2,400 ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) now remain in the wild, according…
Thanks to threats like hunting and the destruction of their tropical forest habitat by illegal loggers, lemurs — small primates endemic to Madagascar — are generally considered some of the…
A study released this month by TRAFFIC, an NGO that monitors the wildlife trade, finds that governance has been so lacking in the forests of Madagascar in recent years that…
When at risk, go naked. At least that’s the defense strategy of a newly described species of gecko that can shed its scales in the face – or in this…
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…
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.…
Some 45,000 people have descended on an area of forest in eastern Madagascar since October in search of sapphires, which on occasion have reportedly topped out at more than 100…
One of the world’s rarest tortoises, the ploughshare tortoise, is about to become extinct. Fewer than 100 ploughshare tortoises (Astrochelys yniphora) remain in the wild, conservationists estimate, and continued poaching…
“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…
Unfortunately for fosa, their first major big-screen appearance came in the form of the fictitious villains in the widely popular 2005 animated film, Madagascar. Most people don’t realise that these…
Handheld, palm-sized, lightweight DNA preparation and sequencing devices are coming your way soon.
