Photo credit: Kim Longstreet©DogStreetPhoto.com mission statement The Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF) is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the primates of Madagascar through captive breeding, scientific research, and education. LCF staff Alison Grand, Ph.D., Animal Care Manager Nancy Hendrickson, Office Manager Lee Nesler, Executive Director and CEO Catherine Olteanu, Manager of Development and Communications Pete Shover, Maintenance Supervisor Felicia Spector, Animal Care Technician Ikoto, Sanford’s brown lemur board of directors John Alexander George Amato Penelope Bodry-Sanders Mark Braunstein Blair Brown Mission Statement 1 Gail Erickson Kate Lippincott LCF Staff 1 Patrice Connolly Pantello Board of Directors 1 Judy Rasmuson Scientific Advisory Committee 1 Scott Riviere Executive Director’s Letter 2 Charlene Heiser Wolff Dr. Alison Jolly 3 scientific advisory Conservation 4 council members Lemurs 5 Education 8 Dr. George Amato Dr. Kenneth E. Glander Research 6 Ms. Andrea Katz Lemur 7 Dr. Thomas Lovejoy Education 9 Dr. Erik R. Patel Art 11 Dr. Elwyn L. Simons Dr. Robert W. Sussman Research 13 Dr. Ian Tattersall Statement of Financial Position 14 Dr. Linda Taylor Donor Acknowledgements 15 Natalie Vasey, Ph.D. Volunteers 17 Dr. Jeffery Wyatt Donor Honor & Memorial Gifts 17 LCF December Gala 18 lemur conservation foundation report 2013 annual 1 contents Ikoto, the last Sanford’s brown lemur, (Eulemur of the Convention on International Trade in sanfordi) in managed breeding programs in the Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora United States and Europe, is a sad example of (CITES), Mr. John E. Scanlon, met in Brussels in what can happen to a species without strong, April 2014 to discuss urgent actions to stem coordinated conservation efforts. the illegal timber trade from Madagascar. This partnership and commitment can improve Organizations like ours are an important the future outlook for Sanford’s brown lemurs component in a species conservation plan. There and other endangered species found among must be space for a population to grow, like LCF’s Madagascar’s unique biodiversity and natural forests and conservation habitats. For Sanford’s treasures. lemurs, the endangered wild populations in Madagascar are the species only chance for Effective conservation means finding the way survival into the future. Some species, like Ikoto’s, forward for villagers, habitats, and animals will disappear as we lose our managed breeding like Sanford’s brown lemurs to thrive, side by program ‘safety net’ for wild populations. side. Lemurs, the iconic animals of Madagascar, especially Ikoto and his species, are ambassadors The International Union for the Conservation of for a powerful conservation message. Their fragile Nature lists Sanford’s lemurs as Endangered. It is hold on the future is a report on our collective listed as endangered because it has a distribution stewardship of our planet. Together we can help range of less than 5,000 km² and the range is them, and Madagascar, move forward confidently, severely fragmented. The area and quality of with hope and inspiration. habitat in the Sanford’s lemurs’ range is declining. Hunting of mature lemurs also contributes to its You can make a difference: endangered conservation status. 1. Write to your government representatives and The biggest threat to the survival of Sanford’s encourage them to end the traffic in wildlife brown lemurs in the wild is habitat destruction. parts and exotic pets. National Geographic Mining for sapphires, slash and burn agriculture, estimates that more exotic animals are in homes and hunting for pets or sources of food for the as pets in the United States than are kept in villagers or the luxury bush meat market puts certified zoo facilities. increasing pressure on these beautiful animals. 2. Become an ECOnsumer – when you purchase Some good news for Sanford’s lemurs is they seem a product made from wood, like furniture, to survive in degraded habitats. Researchers have learn where the wood and other materials are found them in moist montane, such as on Montagne sourced. d’Ambre, and dry deciduous forests. In some places, like Ankarana National Park, they appear to 3. Buy products that support sustainable business favor secondary forest and are active both day and and incomes other than natural resource night. In Ankarana groups of up to 15 animals have consumption. been observed. This is a significantly larger group 4. Support Environmental Education like LCF’s than those observed in Montagne d’Ambre, which A letter from the Executive Director the Executive A letter from Ako Project. In Madagascar there is a direct link range from three to nine animals. between literacy, especially female literacy, and Sanford’s brown lemurs are listed on Appendix improved conservation outcomes. I of The Convention on International Trade in 5. Contact Madagascar’s new president on Twitter Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also and let him know we support his conservation known CITES and the Washington Convention. efforts @PresidenceMada. Besides being observed in Montagne d’Ambre National Park and in two special reserves Sincerely, (Analamerana and Ankarana) they have been seen in the forests of Daraina which are to become a protected area. The newly elected President of the Republic of Madagascar, His Excellency Mr. Hery Marcial Lee Nesler Rajaonarimampianina, and the Secretary-General Executive Director and CEO Lemur Conservation Foundation ~ 2013 Annual Report 2 Dr. Alison Jolly (1937–2014) Dr. Alison Jolly has been a great inspiration to many people in science, education, conservation, and even personally for those of us fortunate enough to have known her and worked with her. Alison’s career began in the usual way – as a post-doctoral Alison dedicated herself student in a university program. A chance assignment to and sometimes her watch lemurs in a Yale lab was an opportunity that changed personal resources to the direction of her career and, it is safe to say, the direction training young scientists, of lemur science and our understanding of conservation. Her teachers, fellow field research in Madagascar, focusing on lemur behavior conservationists, and and ecology, helped to transform our understanding of the children. For more than evolution of social behavior. 20 years she dedicated In the early 1960’s, while still at Yale, she pioneered in-depth her own resources to bring field research on the behavior and ecology of lemurs in cohorts of masters’ level Madagascar. Her insights transformed our understanding students at Madagascar’s of the evolution of social behavior. Ideas she first put prestigious Ecole forward in the 1960s and ‘70s became part of the landscape Normale Superieure to of evolutionary biology and gave rise to an intellectual Berenty. The best and the genealogy as wide as it is deep. In Lemur Behaviour (1966), brightest of Madagascar’s Dr. Jolly was the first to establish, from her meticulously young teachers, these students help reported field observations, the odd fact that among the conduct her ring-tailed lemur and sifaka census and plan lemurs she studied, females typically had priority over males, phenology, attend professional conservation conferences, upending the longstanding assumption that male primates are and work with leading conservation biologists from around always bigger, fiercer and dominant. the world. These gifted young professionals write about their experience in their masters’ theses and recommend how Her seminal articles that followed this ground breaking work aspects of their personal field experience can be used as explored the evolutionary contexts that favor female priority. education resources by their colleagues around the country. She linked her field research with experimental studies of Today, graduates of the Madagascar Student Teachers’ dexterity, or the lack thereof, in captive lemurs to argue that Conservation Education Fund initiative have earned Ph.D.’s, social environment rather than ecological factors drove the serve in the ministry of education, and have distinguished evolution of intelligence among primates. Dr. Jolly developed themselves in conservation careers. Lemur Conservation these ideas further in two books, The Evolution of Primate Foundation is honored to be the steward of Dr. Jolly’s Malagasy Behaviour (1972) and Lucy’s Legacy: Sex and Intelligence in Students’ Fund for the future. Human Evolution (1999). In A World Like Our Own: Man and Nature in Madagascar (1980), Jolly simultaneously celebrated Younger children also captured Dr. Jolly’s attention. She wrote the enigmatic riches of the island’s natural heritage and a number of children’s books, including the Ako Series: offered an unflinching account of the environmental crisis Madagascar Lemur Adventures, for elementary school enveloping people and wildlife alike, “… Madagascar tells us children. Each book features a lemur, from Bitika, the tiny which rules would still hold true if time had once broken its mouse lemur, to No Song, an Indri. The imaginative stories banks and flowed to the present down a different channel …” are fun for children to read aloud with sounds to imitate and No one has said it better, before or since. brightly colored illustrations to inspire their curiosity. Dr. Jolly’s long-time colleague, Dr. Rasamimanana, developed As a young woman and scientist, going to Madagascar was teacher materials and together they brought the Ako Series certainly a brave choice and inspiring example. Once she to classrooms all around Madagascar. The still-growing Ako arrived in Madagascar, Dr. Jolly became outspoken about the project epitomizes Dr. Jolly’s education mandate by marrying needs of the Malagasy people and their intrinsic connection art, science, story-telling, and joy along with her delicious to lemur conservation. Her observations about conservation wit, knowledge of lemurs, their habitats, and Madagascar. outcomes and local people informed and elevated Today the books are translated into three languages and are conservation practices around the globe. She taught us this available on four continents. very important lesson: local peoples must be partners in conservation for any success.