The western woolly lemur is listed as endangered due to its very limited habitat. It is confined to a small area of dry forest in western Madagascar — and even within this small area, suitable habitat is very fragmented. They mostly live in Ankarafantsika National Park, where I saw this young western woolly on a night hike back in 2007. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm manual focus lens, ISO 320, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash
Here’s another shot that I never posted to the blog, although it’s been in my “Madagascar” gallery for a while. This is a mother Coquerel’s sifaka and her baby. Most baby lemurs are born in the fall. These guys are an exception and are born in June and July. This one was about two weeks old. It was very difficult photographing these babies. First of all there weren’t many of them, but also, the mothers were very protective and kept them tucked away and out of sight. Even though I was quite far away with a 600mm lens, if they saw me, they’d shift to hide the baby and retreat into the middle of a large tree. This shot was a finalist last year in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year competition in the endangered species category, but ultimately it didn’t make the show. Nikon D200, Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second
Seems like as good a day as any to post a lemur. This particular guy is an eastern grey bamboo lemur and I spotted him in central Madagascar in Andasibe-Mantadia National Park. There are several species of bamboo lemurs, or as they are also known, gentle lemurs. They get their name due to the fact that they primarily eat bamboo. It is unknown, however, how they detoxify the high level of cyanide that is found in bamboo. Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 120mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/125th of a second
It’s been a real long time since my last insect posting. I know most of you prefer feathers and fur to exoskeletons, but I figured it was high time we gave a shout out to our invertebrate friends. And what better bug is there than the giraffe weevil? This guy is native to Madagascar and aptly named as you can see. The males have the long, giraffe-like necks while the females have a much shorter neck. Hope you like it, but if not, tomorrow I promise something much more cuddly.
There are more than fifty different species of lemur in Madagascar, of all shapes, sizes and colors. About half of them are nocturnal. This is a crowned lemur — an average sized diurnal lemur. The name is an obvious reference to the reddish crown on the forehead. This individual is a female. Males have the exact opposite coloration (reddish body with a grey crown), a characteristic known as sexual dimorphism.
The Madagascar flying fox isn’t a fox at all — it’s a bat. But it is the largest bat in Madagascar with a wingspan of more than four feet. I was in the extreme southern part of the country when I came across a bunch of flying foxes early in the morning. They were just coming in to roost for the day after a night of foraging for fruits, flowers, figs and leaves.
This one is from my trip to Madagascar back in 2007. Of all the lemurs (53 different species depending upon who’s doing the counting) the ring-tailed is perhaps the best known. They’re latin name is Lemur Catta — appropriate because they meow somewhat like a cat. This one was either waving to say hello, or telling me to get the camera out of her face.
Sometimes you need a hand in there to get a sense of scale. This was a little leaf-tailed gecko that my guide found one night while we were out spotlighting in Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar. In my three weeks in the country, I saw both geckos and chameleons that were as small as an inch long, while others were over two feet.
A chameleon’s tongue can be one and a half to two times its body length. The strike for prey happens so fast that it’s hard to get a picture (usually about 0.07 seconds). In my three weeks in Madagascar, I only had two opportunities to see and catch a tongue shot. This is one of them.
In honor of my frog loving little sister who’s birthday it is today, I had to search through my archives to find a suitable subject. This beauty is a Madagascar reed frog that I photographed in the town of Maroantsetra. I was stranded in the town due to bad weather and spent several days just walking around the grounds of the hotel I was staying at, looking for whatever animals I could find. When young, these frogs are completely yellow (see this link to a juvenile that I saw the next day) but when they mature, they get that nice light blue color on their backs. Happy birthday Mo.
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy