Some species that are on the edge of extinction in the wild, may only be found in zoos and sanctuaries one day. Such was thought to be the fate of the greater bamboo lemur. Before 1986, so few were thought left in the wild that it seemed they were virtually extinct.

From 2008 – 2010, the greater bamboo lemur was part of a study by the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, and the International Primatological Society and declared one of the top 25 most threatened primates.

However, successes like the birth of a very rare greater bamboo lemur baby recently, in the Cotswold Wildlife Park, near Swindon in the UK, are a part of a conservation effort which has seen ten babies born at Cotswold since 2020. There are only 36 greater bamboo lemurs are in captivity worldwide. And only 500 to 1,000 are thought to exist in the wild.

No name has been found yet for the baby boy, whose parents are Bijoux and Raphael.

The general manager of Cotswold Wildlife Park, Jamie Craig, was quoted by Yahoo News UK as saying:  “Lemur species in Madagascar are under tremendous pressure from habitat destruction and the rapidly rising human population.”

Greater bamboo lemurs usually subsist almost entirely on bamboo—the construction material used by locals to build. Only, when necessary, do these lemurs eat native lychee nuts, sugar cane or coffee beans.

The Helpsimus project helps to educate locals to help with lemur conservation, studies both the greater bamboo lemur and the red-bellied lemur, and tries to maintain their habitat. Over 90 percent of the greater bamboo lemurs’ habitat has been destroyed by slash and burn techniques, mining, rice farming, and hunting. Much of the remaining lemur territory is fragmented.

Helpsimus, also called the French Association for the Conservation of the Greater Bamboo Lemur (AFSGH),  is an initiative by the Zoo de La Palmyre and Palmyre Conservation. It is located in the Ranomafana and Andringitra National Parks, in Southeast Madagascar.

Sources

Cotswold wildlife park successfully breeds endangered Madagascan lemur. (2024, October 20). The Guardian.  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/20/cotswold-wildlife-park-breeds-endangered-greater-bamboo-lemur-madagascan

Rare birth of critically endangered lemur at Cotswold Wildlife Park. (2024, October 23). yahoo! news UK. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/rare-birth-critically-endangered-lemur-040000614.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAE3h_abV8oVBnvnPqeHgpkk4jszIDEFs7M0akrKBoE6xR6jev-EFT-XmQhddO5per7VaRWeTV21_MuUHObfcxZR3_1LfjzLjfmpcPxydxhlDLOxEgjEUU8JusfVW8Gvv5OSeUkAnavLcuNAsy360nnDi5JyngQe6p_TYQ_jCQusO

Helpsimus (2024). La Palmyre Zoo. https://www.palmyre-conservation.org/en/news/mission-Madagascar-with-Helpsimus

Greater bamboo lemur. (2024, October 22). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_bamboo_lemur

Greater Bamboo Lemurs: A unique species under threat. (2024). Wildlife Foundation.  https://wildlife-foundation.org.uk/greater-bamboo-lemurs/#:~:text=Over%20the%20past%20few%20years,still%20listed%20as%20critically%20endangered