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Source: BBC

Sir Richard Branson is to import lemurs to the Caribbean, where they will live wild in the forest on his islands.

Of intense debate at the moment is Sir Richard Branson’s plans to introduce lemurs (native to Madagascar) to a Caribbean island. Sparking a number of  twitter conversations across the primate community (both supporting and dismissing the plans), we thought we would open up a debate and post any updates we encounter to monitor the eventual outcome and to explore the debates and questions raised.

Updates 02/05/11

The following articles suggest that plans are set to continue as normal.

Source: http://www.greenantilles.com

Branson says island may save lemurs and in this follow-up/response, Sir Richard’s possible folly.

And from Reuters, Richard Branson gets flak for lemur relocation plan.

The BBC’s coverage continues below:

Sir Richard Branson is to import lemurs to the Caribbean, where they will live wild in the forest on his islands. The project has alarmed conservation scientists, who point out that many previous species introductions have proved disastrous to native wildlife. But Sir Richard’s team maintains that both the lemurs, which will come from zoos, and native animals will be fine.

Introducing species found on one continent into another for conservation purposes is virtually unprecedented. Lemurs are found only on the African island of Madagascar and many species are threatened, largely because of deforestation. The threat has grown worse since the toppling of President Marc Ravalomanana’s government two years ago, which allowed illegal logging to flourish.

“We’ve been helping to try and preserve lemurs, and sadly in Madagascar because of the government being overthrown the space for lemurs is getting less and less,” Sir Richard told BBC News from his Caribbean property.

“Here on Moskito Island we’ve got a beautiful rainforest – we brought in experts from South Africa, and they say it would be an absolutely perfect place where lemurs can be protected and breed.”

Ring-tailed and red ruffed lemurs are two of the species in the plan. Both are on the Red List of Threatened Species. Moskito (also spelled Mosquito) Island is one of two that Sir Richard owns in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Several luxury houses, including one for the boss of the Virgin business empire himself, are being built on it.

His other island is Necker, home to an eco-tourism resort where a stay is priced at around $2,000 (£1,200) per day. The plan has aroused a lot if interest locally, with the bulletin boards of BVI news websites buzzing with comments for and against, and politicians locking horns.

And it concerned conservation scientists contacted by BBC News.

“Maybe [Sir Richard] has got some people to say it is alright – but what else lives on the island, and how might they be affected?” asked Simon Stuart, chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission (IUCN SSC).

Continue reading the article on the BBC’s website here