Wildlife photographer and author Nick Garbutt has never had any trouble coming across greater bam- boo lemurs in Madagascar’s Ranomafana National Park. That is, of course, until he purposefully tried to find them. But, as he discovered, the lemurs’ unex- pected elusiveness wasn’t just his bad luck, it was a sign that – as usual in Madagascar – all was not as it seemed.  TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHS BY NICK GARBUTT Bamboozled!

www.africageographic.comroger de la harpe37 he first inkling that we were getting close was not a fleeting along a pole, and I saw another the node, stripping off piece after BELOW Rainforest streams, like this one in glimpse, a bouncing branch in feeding near the base of a stem. We piece, until the thick pole (approx- Ranomafana National Park, provide giant the canopy, tell-tale vocalisa- edged closer carefully. I knew there imately 10 centimetres in diameter) bamboo lemurs with a permanent source tions or even a faint rustle in was little danger of spooking these was completely severed. of water. This vital requirement may be a the foliage. It was the remains particular animals, as they had Looking around, I could see a good factor in the species' highly restricted ofT a recent meal. There aren’t too many become tolerant and habituated number of similarly broken poles in range and territory. primates that can be identified instantly through long-term research. None- the immediate vicinity, where the by their dinner leftovers, but then the theless, manoeuvring cumbersome other members of the group had also greater bamboo lemur Prolemur simus – camera gear so as not to disturb them been feeding. Yet this short-term one of the world’s most endangered required caution. destruction seemed to have little long- primates – is different in so many ways. After a few minutes of quiet obser- term impact on the giant bamboo, In this instance, the recent meal was vation, I had counted six bamboo which was clearly thriving. One the stems of giant bamboo Cathario- lemurs in the group, including a reason is that nothing else feeds on stachys madagascariensis, which grows in mother with a very young infant. The the plant in this way: greater bamboo impressive, sometimes dense, tangled animal closest to the ground was a lemurs have effectively cornered the stands on the steep slope we were male and I watched intently as he fed. market. Another is that, after a period climbing. Most of the stems were ex- His technique was intriguing. Working of time, the lemurs move on to other MADAGASCAR tremely tall, some more than 20 metres from just above a node in the mature patches, leaving the quick-growing MOZAMBIQUE CHANNEL Lac high, with their hard shiny exteriors giant bamboo pole, he would crack bamboo to recover. Alaotra intact, but in strategic places they had through the exceedingly tough stalk been ripped, quite literally, to shreds. with his teeth, then rip upwards, reater bamboo lemurs have TOROTOROFOTSY • MARSH Antananarivo  No other animal has the inclination or peeling off a sliver of bamboo often evolved to epitomise special- ANDASIBE-MANTADIA ability to do this to giant bamboo. more than 30 centimetres long. There G isation, as they eat almost NP I was in Ranomafana National Park would be a pause, while he manip- nothing but giant bamboo (about

in south-eastern Madagascar and had ulated the stalk and began eating it 95 per cent of their diet), although RANOMAFANA NP been tracking the species for three days from one end to the other. they do vary the parts that they target. Fianarantsoa • but, even with the help of expert local He would then return to the brok- They are the largest of the bamboo guide Stephane, the bamboo lemurs en node, bite into the bamboo pole lemurs and the only ones with jaws ANDRINGITRA NP had thus far eluded us. It highlighted once again and rip off another sliver. and teeth powerful enough to crack how hit-and-miss finding this par- Gradually, he worked his way around open the bamboo’s tough stems.  ticular lemur can be. I’d been to Ran- INDIAN omafana numerous times and had often after a period of time, the lemurs move on to other OCEAN encounted them, sometimes with- patches, leaving the quick-growing bamboo to recover out a great deal of effort. But, it is not surprising that finding greater bamboo lemurs can prove problematic. They move in groups that cover extremely large home ranges, up to one square kilometre, which is far larger than those of other lemurs of similar size. They are, however, known to spend extended periods in more confined areas centred on good feeding. Find their favourite food and there’s a ABOVE With powerful jaws and strong good chance of finding them. teeth, the greater bamboo lemur is able This time, we knew we were close as to tear open the tough stems of giant the evidence was obviously fresh – the bamboo. inner pith of the bamboo was still very moist and there were recent droppings RIGHT Decimated plants provide con- on the forest floor. We continued up clusive evidence that greater bamboo the slope, moving into areas where the lemurs are in the vicinity. stands of giant bamboo became in- creasingly dense. Low down, their tall PREVIOUS SPREAD Madagascar’s answer pole-like stems crisscrossed one another to the giant panda, the greater bamboo in a mad tangle resembling piles of lemur tucks into giant bamboo, which discarded scaffolding, while at their provides 95 per cent of its dietary needs. tips, shoots and leaves reached eagerly for gaps in the rainforest canopy where chinks of vital light penetrated. It was in a particularly thick clump of bamboo that we finally found the lemurs. Almost at the same time, Stephane spotted one high up, moving

38 AFRICA GEOGRAPHIC • SEPTEMBER 2008 their territories are therefore confined to areas with THE A TO Z OF BAMBOO LEMURS both an abundance of bamboo and permanent Bamboo lemurs (Subfamily southern H. meridionalis from Hapalemurinae) Bamboo south-eastern rainforests; and sources of water lemurs are the smallest of the the western H. occidentalis, During the rainy season (mid-November no accurate overall population figures diurnal lemurs and, as their which is restricted to patches of to March), they concentrate on the were available, numbers were thought name indicates, they all have a deciduous forest in western sprouting ground shoots. After March, to be a few hundred at best and, in dietary preference for bamboo, Madagascar. All weigh between when the abundance of these shoots 2005, Conservation International listed a trait unique amongst primates. 0.7 and 1.1 kilograms, have declines, their diet shifts towards leaves the lemur as one of the World’s 25 Most Because of their engaging ap- rounded grey faces and are griz- and branch shoots, and from July to Endangered Primates. pearance, they are sometimes zled grey-brown in colour. They November they rely heavily on the Undoubtedly, much of the bamboo called ‘gentle lemurs’. In evo- have the broadest diets of the inner pith and stems. It is then that the lemur’s decline (and similar declines lutionary terms, they are bamboo lemurs – 80 per cent is lemurs cause the most destruction to experienced by countless other species) sufficiently closely related to bamboo (young leaves, branch bamboo. has been linked to Madagascar’s cata- the 'true' lemurs (Subfamily shoots and ground shoots), but Ranomafana is home to two of their strophic levels of deforestation. It is Lemurinae) – especially the ring- the remaining 20 per cent com- closest relatives, which between them estimated that barely 10 per cent of the tailed lemur Lemur catta – to be prises non-bamboo foliage, fruits, illustrate the merits of targeting differ- island's original forest cover remains. included in the same family, flowers, grass stems and fungi. ent resources. The eastern grey There may, however, be other factors to Lemuridae, yet different enough bamboo lemur Hapalemur griseus is the consider. to warrant being placed in their The Lac Alaotra bamboo most common species and is a relative In Ranomafana, visitors to the main own subfamily. Six species are lemur H. alaotrensis is very generalist, focusing on the shoots and trail network at Talatakely have a currently recognised, five in the similar in appearance, but young leaves of several bamboo reasonable chance of seeing the same genus Hapalemur and one in the slightly heavier (up to 1.4 kilo- species. It also consumes non-bamboo greater bamboo lemurs that I observed, genus Prolemur. All are social grams) than the grey bamboo foliage, fruits, flowers and grass stems. in the extensive stands of giant bamboo Although primarily diurnal feeders, and live in small groups that lemurs. It is extremely endan- In contrast, the golden bamboo lemur that flourish there. But, what about greater bamboo lemurs also feed at average four to six individuals. gered and is the only primate in H. aureus, like its larger cousin, is an elsewhere in the park? In the past, it night throughout the year. the world that lives in reedbeds. extreme specialist and the only lemur was assumed that other areas with a The most widespread are Between 2 500 and 5 000 indi- to eat the young, protein-rich shoots similar abundance of giant bamboo the three species of grey viduals are found in the threat- of giant bamboo, which contain levels would also support groups of greater LOOKING FORWARD bamboo lemur (sometimes ened marshes that surround Lac of cyanide that are lethal to other bamboo lemurs. Not so, according to a Association Mitsinjo, which means ‘looking called lesser bamboo lemurs) – Alaotra in central Madagascar, species. recent survey. forward’ in Malagasy, is a local NGO based the eastern H. griseus from the where they feed on papyrus, Of course, extreme specialisation has After exhaustive studies of a large in Andasibe in central-eastern Madagascar eastern rainforest belt; the reeds, stems and grasses. its pros and cons. It reduces potential proportion of the 440-square-kilometre and was created in 1999 as an association competition for food and, as long as national park, primatologist Patricia of local guides. Today, Mitsinjo manages resources remain plentiful, all is well. Wright and her colleagues came to the more than 100 square kilometres of land Eastern grey bamboo lemur Should conditions change and the staggering conclusion that the greater for the conservation of biodiversity within food’s abundance diminish, then bamboo lemurs at Talatakely, together two protected areas near Andasibe- The golden bamboo lemur and is considered to be suf- competition within the species with two other fragmented groups on Mantadia National Park: the Torotorofotsy H. aureus shot to attention ficiently taxonomically distinct becomes increasingly prevalent. In the the opposite side of the road, con- Marsh Ramsar site and Analamazaotra when the species was discov- to be given its own genus. Other most severe cases, when food dis- stituted the entire population of the Forest Station. The association’s projects ered in Ranomafana National than its size, it is distinguished appears completely, the specialised park. This amounted to a total of no include forest restoration, ecological Park in 1985. It has sub- by prominent pale-grey to white species is doomed. more than 20 individuals! Add this to monitoring, ecotourism and local sequently also been found in ear-tufts. But, are its rather peculiar habitat the handfuls of animals at the other community work. Andringitra National Park and and dietary requirements sufficient to known, isolated localities in the south- A number of studies focusing on bio- within the forest corridor that explain the greater bamboo lemur’s east, and the total population of the diversity and wildlife are currently under connects these two protected extreme rarity? According to subfossils species may have numbered as little as way and deal directly with rare flagship areas. As its name implies, this (remains in which the fossilisation 60 animals. This would make it argu- species such as the indri, diademed sifaka, species is more golden-brown in process is incomplete) that have been ably the single most endangered aye-aye and golden mantella frog. One of colour, especially the underparts unearthed in various parts of northern, primate in the entire African region (if the most exciting developments is the and cheeks, while the upper- central and eastern Madagascar, greater not the world). discovery of an additional population of parts are mainly olive-chestnut. bamboo lemurs were probably once It seems strange that in Ranomafana greater bamboo lemurs. These animals are It weighs on average between widespread and common. Even as late and elsewhere, there are areas of forest monitored and tracked daily by Mitsinjo 1.25 and 1.65 kilograms and its as the 19th century, expeditions where the habitat appears to be suitable staff to assess home ranges and the diet is dominated by the young collected specimens from widely and giant bamboo thrives, yet greater ecological requirements of this population. leaves and shoots of giant dispersed sites in the east, suggesting bamboo lemurs are absent. One reason The field study is supported by Con- bamboo. that their range might have covered may be that drinking water – or lack of servation International and the Margot much of the rainforest belt. it – is a limiting factor. During drier Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, while Weighing up to 2.5 kilograms, And yet, until recently, the species periods in Ranomafana, greater bam- genetic studies are carried out in collab- the greater bamboo lemur was thought to be restricted to a small boo lemurs are the only lemurs that oration with the Henry Doorly Zoo in the US. Prolemur simus is by far the number of disparate sites in Mad- frequently visit streams to drink. (Other Mitsinjo funds its other conservation and Golden bamboo lemur largest of the bamboo lemurs Ring-tailed lemur agascar’s south-east, the two most species get their liquid requirements development efforts through visitor fees important being Ranomafana and from food, or rainwater on foliage and and the sale of local produce and crafts. Andringitra national parks. Although in hollow trees.) Their territories are 

www.africageographic.com 41 therefore confined to areas with both an abundance of bamboo and permanent sources of water. There may also be other, as yet speculative, reasons for their rarity. Perhaps we are witnessing a species in natural decline? Anthropogenic in- fluence on the lemur’s environment has without doubt accelerated this trend, but some observers have suggested that competition with the slightly more prolific golden bamboo lemur may be significant. This, despite the notion that their respective dietary specialisation and niche separation have evolved to reduce competition. So, is the greater bamboo lemur doomed – trapped by its own acute specialisation, unable to adapt and ultimately consigned to the evolutionary scrap heap?

ecently, there has been a glimmer of hope. In the past year, a R confirmed discovery of a hitherto unknown population of greater bamboo lemurs has been made at a location far removed from the others. What’s more, this location lies adjacent to one of Madagascar’s most popular ecotourist sites, Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. The presence of greater bamboo lemurs was first suspected in forests close to Torotorofotsy Marsh three years ago, when scientists from the local con- servation organisation Association Mitsinjo found ravaged stems of giant bamboo. However, it took a further two years for them to see and finally radio- collar the animals. So far, nine individuals have been identified and there are indications of at least four groups – two near Torotorofotsy Marsh, the others in forest patches on the western side of the in the past year, national park. Efforts are now being concentrated to safeguard these precious a confirmed animals and it is hoped that extensive discovery searches in adjacent areas will reveal more groups. Whether this ultimately of a hitherto influences the long-term fate of the species remains to be seen, but, if unknown nothing else, it underlines Madagascar’s population seemingly endless capacity to surprise.  of greater For more information, write to Association Mitsinjo, Lot 104A, Gare, Andasibe 514, bamboo lemurs Madagascar; tel. (+261-20) 568 3233; e-mail [email protected]; or visit has been made http://mitsinjo.googlepages.com

If feeding is good, a group of greater bamboo lemurs may remain in an area for up to two weeks before moving on.

66 AFRICA GEOGRAPHIC • april 2008