CAN WE SAVE THE LEMURS? Ruffed lemurs are in trouble. But lots of people are trying to help them before it's too late

Ranger Rick, Dec, 2000 by Elizabeth Schleichert

1 WHAT A PAIR!

A black-and-white ruffed lemur (LEE-mur) mom guards her baby. Ruffed lemurs are dying out in their island home, Madagascar. So scientists around the world are raising them--then returning the captive lemurs to their homeland. These two live at the Duke University Primate Center in North Carolina.

2 A three-week-old baby checks out his world from a bamboo stalk. He's learning to climb trees--a handy skill for this rainforest creature.

Look at all these black faces framed by white fur "collars" or ruffs. You can see where these animals got their name: black-and-white ruffed lemur. But what you can't see is how much trouble they're in.

LOSING LEMURS

Ruffed lemurs are just one of 32 species (kinds) of lemurs. They're all primates (PRY-mates), cousins of monkeys, apes, and humans. In the wild, lemurs are found in Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of Africa. (See map on page 22.) But the rainforest where the lemurs live is quickly disappearing. People are chopping down the trees for farmland and for lumber. With nowhere to live, the lemurs are dying off. And they're dying for another reason too: Many people are killing and eating them.

So what's being done to help the ruffed lemurs? Lots, it seems. People have set aside some of Madagascar's rainforest as parks, called nature reserves. One, the Betampona Nature Reserve, has just the right trees and fruits for ruffed lemurs. Some wild lemurs already live there.

Scientists around the world are helping too. They're raising black-and- white ruffed lemurs in captivity. Then they're sending some of them to Madagascar--to live in the Betampona Reserve.

That's what's happening with the ones shown here. Scientists at the Duke University Primate Center in North Carolina are getting them ready for life in the wild.

HOME IN THE WOODS

At the Duke Center, the ruffed lemurs have the free run of a fenced forest. It's one large backyard--the size of four football fields! Here the animals quickly learn their way around.

They scramble up trees and leap from limb to limb. When they get tired, they often curl up on a branch and snooze. And when it's cold out, they rest in a sunny spot--up high or down below.

The lively lemurs become experts at finding food in the treetops. As they bound about, they discover the tastiest fruits, flowers, and seeds.

CHOW DOWN!

Lemurs like scrambling about in the trees at the Duke Center. But they dash down to the ground when their keeper appears. They know it's meal time! The lemurs eagerly tag along behind the keeper, who'll pour their food onto a platform and raise it up into the trees. Then the lemurs bound up after it and dig in.

This forest is a fine place for the lemurs--a perfect spot to get used to life in the wild. It may not be the rainforest, but it works. Next stop, the real thing!

GOING WILD

When the time comes, the ruffed lemurs are put in small pet carriers. Then it's onto a plane headed for Madagascar.

When the lemurs arrive at Betampona Reserve, some scientists meet them. The animals go into a large cage in the middle of the rainforest. Here the lemurs slowly get used to their new home.

The lemurs are fed fruits and leaves from the surrounding rainforest. The scientists hope that the animals soon will want to find these treats on their own!

Before the lemurs leave the cage, they're fitted with radio collars. (These will help scientists keep track of them.) They're also given hair cuts. Each animal's tail fur is cut in a different pattern. This will help scientists tell the lemurs apart in the wild.

READY, SET, GO!

After a month in their forest cage, the big day comes. It's time to let the lemurs loose! A scientist opens their cage door. Usually some furry faces peer out. A few of the animals may leap up onto their cage. Perhaps they're afraid to leave. But most scamper off.

Now it's up to the scientists to keep track of the lemurs. They want to be sure their "babies" are doing all right. Often the radio signals from the lemurs' collars are hard to pick up. The dense jungle and hills block out the signals. Or the batteries in the collars die.

So what then? The scientists look for the lemurs on foot. They whack through tangled bushes and haul themselves up steep slopes. Suddenly, they'll hear a sound and stop. It's the loud screech of a ruffed lemur! And then they'll spot something familiar--a trimmed tail up there in the trees. "So there you are!" a scientist will say with a grin.

LOOKING AHEAD

What's the ruffed lemurs' future? It's too soon to know. People are still cutting down the Madagascar rainforest, even in the nature reserves. That means the lemurs could still be in danger. But scientists are teaching Betampona's neighbors to care about the forest and its lemurs. That way the ruffed lemurs may have a chance here. As one scientist says, "This is a beginning, only a beginning." But a hopeful one, for sure! =

A big thanks to the Madagascar Fauna Group for their help with this article.

2 ME FIRST!

At the Duke Center two ruffed lemurs tag along after their keeper. They know it's dinner time! Once a day, the lemurs here are fed monkey chow. They love it, and it helps keep them in tip-top condition.