Alert to the slightest movement and sound, Michael Tovolahy’s patrol is tracking poachers who are inflicting grievous harm to this jewel of biodiversity. The poachers are targeting lemurs, primates battling the threat of extinction, and are chopping down trees, some of them rare hardwoods, to burn for charcoal. The poachers cut down the trees surrounding their nest, which provides the lemurs with a means of flight. Out of 111 recorded lemur species, 105 face the threat of extinction, says the Lemur Conservation Network (LCN). “I never get too close to this forest in my boat,” confided Parfait Emmanuel, a fisherman in the village of Andranokoditra.

Source: Egypt Independent April 22, 2019 08:03 UTC