The Fragmented World of the Mongoose Lemur

The Fragmented World of the Mongoose Lemur is the story of a critically endangered species, fractured ecosystems and the global war on nature. The mongoose lemur is endemic to NW Madagascar where it is found in scattered fragments of habitable forest. As an introduced, naturalised species on Anjouan in the Comoros Islands, it has survived by becoming something else: an adaptable, urbanised mammal. The captive population numbers less than 100 and, disappointingly, it has performed inconsistently over several decades.

In this public lecture in the Zoology Museum, local writer Michael Stephen Clark shows how fragmentation is a fact of life for the mongoose lemur; just one of the many species around the world suffering similarly from disturbance, displacement, and/or destruction. In common with the majority of lemurs on Madagascar, it will only survive the anthropogenically driven “sixth great extinction” through positive action and a creative approach to nature conservation.