Why are lemurs endangered?

Why are ring tailed lemurs endangered?

• Answer:

  The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) (Ring-tailed Lemur, 2003) is an endangered species found on, and only on, the island of Madagascar, off the western coast of Africa. They inhabit only the southwestern portion of Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, which is roughly twice the size of Arizona (Madagascar, 2004). A plan to help save these unique creatures from the extinction that threatens them would be to crack down on their main reason for extinction: habitat degradation (2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2004). One cause for this problem is livestock overgrazing; cattle and other animals are slowly but steadily consuming the lemur’s natural habitat. To prevent this, a large part of the ring-tailed lemur’s habitat span should be made into a protected area, where farming and cattle ranching would be made illegal. Their habitat is also shrinking due to the extraction of wood; cutting down the rainforest trees. There are numerous programs in place trying to save the rainforest, but none are specifically targeted at Madagascar’s trees. If these attempts to prevent rainforest destruction were to be aimed specifically at southern Madagascar, then the lemurs’ chance at survival would be increased greatly. The last factor in habitat degradation is severe forest fires. Like all forest fires, they can happen at any time, and once they are at their maximum, they are almost impossible to stop. For that reason, ring-tailed lemur’s habitat is being destroyed at a rapid rate. If the government of Madagascar were to put into action a stronger forest fire prevention program, then they could be quicker and more efficient at stopping the fires and helping the lemurs, along with hundreds of other species that rely on this rainforest.