Madagascar rainforests: at home with the lemurs

Marojejy national park was for decades open only to botanists but visitors can now trek into the mountains in order to see the fabled silky sifakasIt was dawn, deep in the jungle of Mount Marojejy, when my guide and I first caught sight of the family of silky sifakas – six snow-white, metre-high lemurs perched in the treetops. The rising sun had bathed the cliffs beyond them in liquid amber and, as we peered up, their pale coats were wreathed in smoky golden light. The locals call them angels of the forest – and we now understood why.The silky sifaka is not only one of the world's most beautiful creatures, it is also among the rarest: fewer than 2,000 survive, all around Marojejy national park. And they are just one of several reasons to visit this great massif, perhaps the most spectacular peak and the richest repository of strange flora and fauna in the whole of Madagascar. It has a fearsome reputation, but recently built paths and campsites of sturdy huts now make a trip to its summit (almost) as doable as a weekend in Snowdonia.In 1952, French botanist Henri Humbert declared it Madagascar's greatest treasure and closed it to the public. Marojejy reopened as a national park in 1998 and, for years was accessible only by a muddy, overgrown path – a sure route to sprained ankles and a gift to leeches.My guide was Erik Patel, a young American primatologist who recently featured in a David Attenborough-narrated documentary on the silky sifaka, and is director of the Duke ...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Tags: The Guardian Travel Endangered species Madagascar Endangered habitats David Attenborough Features Animals Primatology Conservation Environment Africa Wildlife Source Type: news