Creature Feature: Panda Lemurs

US Person likes to feature stories that show how thoughtful conservation measures can bring a species back from extirpation by homo sapiens. The panda lemur (Prolemur simus) is one such story. While our most distant primate relatives are still critically endangered on the island of Madagascar, the panda lemurs in Andriantantely, the island's last lowland rainforest, are reproducing well. The population has doubled in just three years to over 100. They were once considered extinct until unknown populations were located in the 1980s. Twenty lemur infants have arrived at a community conservation project run by the Aspinall Foundation. Panda lemurs are also known as greater bamboo lemurs, one of only three lemurs that survive entirely on bamboo. Consequently, a mature forest is critical for their survival in the wild. Andriantantley has survived relatively in tact to the present because of strong local traditions protecting the forest. Seventeen species of lemur have disappeared from the island of lemurs since humans arrived. Because of their isolation they are an entirely unique species of primate. Scientists want to establish an ambitious plant to keep lemurs from vanishing altogether by setting up community conservation programs in which local people have a stake in protecting wild habitat and the animals that live there. Plans include patrol teams to mitigate poaching in protected forest.