Eats Shoots and Arrives
Port Lympne Wild Animal Park near Ashford has welcomed a new arrival from France in the form of a critically endangered female greater bamboo lemur, one of only 19 in animal collections throughout the world.
The lemur was flown in from France to Heathrow and arrived at the Animal Reception Centre also known as the ARC before travelling down to the park near Ashford.
Head Primate Keeper, Simon Jeffrey explained: ‘Manantena - or Belle as the keepers call her, because she’s so pretty - travelled well and was looked after throughout her journey. She was calm and settled when she arrived here and is already out and about exploring her new surroundings’
Greater bamboo lemurs are native to Madagascar and are often referred to as the Madagascan panda as they rely entirely on bamboo as their food source. Due to mass deforestation causing destruction of their habitat, combined with hunting using sling shots; they are now listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List and with numbers in the wild thought to be around 500, they are one of the rarest animals in the world. Giant panda numbers are estimated to be in the region of 2,500 in the wild.
Simon said: ‘Sadly this species is critically endangered due to the loss of bamboo, the primary food source of the greater bamboo lemur. Bamboo lemurs are one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world, with only 19 in animal collections and around 500 left in the wild, captive breeding programmes like ours are vital to ensure that this wonderful species survives.’
The Aspinall Foundation which works in conjunction with the wild animal park is currently carrying out surveys in Madagascar to establish the population of greater bamboo lemurs left in the wild. The survey has produced evidence of the lemur from eleven different sites across a 370,000 hectare region.
‘Searching for the world’s rarest and most elusive lemur in this remote forest was a big gamble’ added Damian Aspinall, Chairman of The Aspinall Foundation, ‘but sometimes that’s what it takes to help save a species from the brink of extinction’.
