Live capture and ownership of lemurs in Madagascar: extent and conservation implications

Abstract

Overexploitation is a significant threat to biodiversity, with live capture of millions of animals annually. An improved understanding of live capture of primates is needed, especially for Madagascar's threatened lemurs. Our objectives were to provide the first quantitative estimates of the prevalence, spatial extent, correlates and timing of lemur ownership, procurement methods, within-country movements, and numbers and duration of ownership. Using semi-structured interviews of 1,093 households and 61 transporters, across 17 study sites, we found that lemur ownership was widespread and affected a variety of taxa. We estimate that 28,253 lemurs have been affected since 2010. Most lemurs were caught by owners and kept for either short (≤ 1 week) or long (≥ 3 years) periods. The live capture of lemurs in Madagascar is not highly organized but may threaten several Endangered and Critically Endangered species.

Consumption of Domestic Cat in Madagascar: Frequency, Purpose, and Health Implications

“…Nonetheless, few people had taboos against cat consumption, and while cats in Madagascar are often viewed as household pets (i.e., not food items; Junge et al 2008), many Malagasy people appeared to be willing to consume cat meat when it was available. Similarly, consumption of pet lemurs may also be occurring in Madagascar for similar reasons (Zinner et al 2001;Reuter et al 2015). Further, of the interviewees who reported their method of procurement, most consumed cats that had been raised either by themselves or a neighbor.…”

Synthesis of the silky sifaka’s distribution (<i>Propithecus candidus</i>)

“…Furthermore, the authors also report, without providing evidence, that P. candidus has been kept in captivity as a pet and that it is threatened by the pet trade. Although Reuter et al (2014) estimated that~28,000 lemurs may have been kept as pets in Madagascar since 2010, no P. candidus have yet been observed as pets (Mittermeier et al 2010, Patel 2014. Indeed, P. candidus, like other sifakas (such as the P. diadema and P. tattersalli which lived at Duke Lemur Center, but have not survived), are likely to be extremely difficult to raise in captivity due to their highly specialized diet.…”

Illegal Trade of Wild-Captured Lemur catta within Madagascar

“…Although the pet trade has long been recognized as a threat to haplorrhine primates (specifically monkeys and apes) [Soini, 1972;Duarte-Quiroga et al, 2003;Stiles et al, 2013], these threats have only relatively recently been acknowledged for strepsirrhines (lemurs [Reuter et al, 2016], lorises [Nekaris and Jaffe, 2007], and galagos [Svensson et al, 2015]). Slow lorises are among the most commonly traded primates in Indonesian areas [Shepherd et al, 2004;Nijman et al, 2017], with several thousand individuals for sale in certain markets per year [Nijman, 2010].…”