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David Smith, reporting for the Guardian newspaper has stated that Madagascar’s endangered lemurs are at risk from continued deforestation and political turmoil. Madagascar.

Dr Hantanirina Rasamimanana, a researcher and teacher at Antananarivo University, said:

“Deforestation is always a problem, but in these past five months bushmeat is also very dangerous. People are desperate because of the lack of rain.”

She added:

“Here in Madagascar, when there is a political change, everything is burning. It’s always like that. They burn, they cut, they destroy, they steal. “If they don’t stop, I am afraid that some species will become extinct.” Conservationists say that armed gangs are exploiting the security vacuum to pillage rosewood and ebony from supposedly protected forests on behalf of a so-called “timber mafia”.

Environmentalists warn that a political crisis in the impoverished country is reversing conservation gains of recent years and putting “hundreds if not thousands” of species, many not yet identified, at risk of extinction.

A brown lemur, one of the many species found in Madagascar. Photograph: Duncan Willetts/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

Madagascar, which has been isolated from landmasses for more than 160m years, is the world’s fourth largest island and a “conservation hotspot” with thousands of exotic species found only here. These include nearly 100 species of lemur, six of which are deemed critically endangered.

Decades of logging, mining and slash-and-burn farming have destroyed 90% of Madagascar’s forests, though the rate has slowed in the past two decades.

The former president, Marc Ravalomanana, was praised for putting 6m hectares under protection and backing eco-friendly community projects and sustainable farming. But Ravalomanana was ousted in March in a violent coup that led to a breakdown of law and order and a “gold rush” of armed loggers and poachers. International sanctions have caused the suspension of environmental programmes and could hit 45 national parks that are 90% dependent on overseas aid.

Lemurs’ natural habitat is under threat from the accelerating deforestation. In addition, the endangered animals are being hunted for bushmeat, either to be eaten by drought-afflicted local populations or sold as a roasted delicacy in city restaurants.

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