Going wild with lemurs in Madagascar. Summer 2017.
A landmass isolated for 80 million years, over 70% of the creatures here are found nowhere else on earth. An evolutionary experiment with striking results. Take the lemur - an alternate strain of primate, making up the lineage which did not lead to us, producing instead this species of charismatic, oddball creatures, each perfectly adapted to their own habitat.
“No one will protect what they don't care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced” - Sir David Attenborough
There are 105 different species of lemur, all found only in Madagascar. Most I had never heard of, nor seen an image of prior to my two weeks roaming around the country in search of them. I managed to observe 16 different types in total, with many proving quite challenging to find Not surprising, as they are one of the most endangered groups of mammals on the planet.
The reality is that many will vanish before most of us will ever have a chance to learn of their existence or speak their name, let alone feel an urge to protect them. Their habitat has shrunk significantly over the years and remains ever so fragile. But images and words are the fastest way to share an experience.
This is an irreplaceable wilderness.