A Berenty sifaka with a baby on board

[stuny]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Several species of lemurs are pandemic to Madagascar, and I encourge you to get there quickly before all their habitat is gone -- the type of erosion found in Madagascar from loss of trees has become a universal term used by scientists world wide. This sifaka lemur is in a huge private estate called Berenty. as Barbara writes in her trip notes on our site:

 

We got to Berenty midday. Cabins with wide verandas are divided to accommodate two parties in separate rooms. Our room was simple but spacious containing a seating area with a couch and coffee table, a desk and chair, one big bed with a mosquito net, end tables, a vanity and a bunkbed that we used to hang clothes on since there were shelves but no closets. On our way to lunch we popped our heads in the bar/café just to see what it looked like and were amused to see Ringtail lemurs casually lounging on the cushioned chairs on the al fresco patio. It reminded us of the scene in the original "Men in Black" movie when J first encounters the Worm Guys hanging out in the coffee room.

 

Berenty is very easy to explore because of the wide, well-maintained paths cutting through the vegetation. I don’t think it’s possible to come here and not see lemurs. They’re everywhere. Particularly the Ringtails, who prowl the grounds in big, swaggering gangs. There’s a species of Brown lemur, different from those we saw on Nosy Mangabe, with rust-tinged light brown fur and fawn-colored faces intersected by a broad black stripe. And of course there were the Sifaka, playing suave Fred Astaire opposite the Ringtails’ scrappy James Cagney and the Browns’ malicious Peter Lorre. Both the Ringtails and Browns crawled the ground on all fours, but the Sifaka hopped, skipped and jumped on two legs balancing with their long, graceful arms and tail. We saw a few on the ground but most of the time they were leaping acrobatically through the trees. Heading back to our cabin after a very satisfying walk, we spotted a small group of Ringtails enthusiastically chowing down on prickly pear cactus, their cheeks comically bulging with food. Clinging to one female was the tiniest baby we’d seen so far, so close to newborn that its wispy black tail wasn’t ringed yet.

[clinchico]

Stuart

What a nice catch and the baby is checking you out.

Herb

[stuny]

Herb -

 

Thank you.