SOUTHWESTERN MADAGASCAR
With lanky limbs and acrobatic agility, Verreaux’s sifakas leap with ease from tree to tree in the canopy of Madagascar’s spiny forest. To cross open ground, however, the fuzzy white-and-brown primates employ a peculiar-looking technique: They hop laterally on their hind legs while holding their arms high—earning them the nickname “dancing lemurs.”
But this unique dance could soon disappear. Of the 107 lemur species endemic to the island nation, the Verreaux’s sifaka is one of 103 now facing extinction. Habitat destruction due to forest clearing for subsistence farming, charcoal, and firewood is mainly to blame. Poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking also pose threats.
To protect lemurs, WWF trains and works with community patrollers known as polisin’ala to monitor the Amoron’i Onilahy Protected Area, one of the last strongholds for Verreaux’s sifakas. Equipped with a smartphone-based monitoring system, 79 polisin’ala monitor and record population numbers, lemur behavior, and forest health. They also report on illegal activity—all actions that have contributed to a promising increase in lemur density from 2019 to 2023.
That upward trend is evidence that Amoron’i Onilahy is providing enough space and resources to support additional animals, and that along with continued improvements in protected area management, local communities are making a significant difference in lemur conservation efforts.
