Madagascar: stunning wildlife, landscapes, and cultural diversity

WildMadagascar.org highlights Madagascar's stunning wildlife, landscapes, and cultural diversity.

Madagascar is a land like no other. An island roughly the size of Texas or France, Madagascar is home to more than 250,000 species of which 70% are found nowhere else on the globe.

Geography: Madagascar can be divided into five geographical regions: the east coast, the Tsaratanana Massif, the central highlands, the west coast, and the southwest. The highest elevations parallel the east coast, whereas the land slopes more gradually to the west coast. Geography of Madagascar

Culture: are of the past; where in many areas taboo and tradition takes precedence over the law; and western-style religion is freely mixed with beliefs in sorcery and unparalleled funerary customs. The People of Madagascar

Plant biodiversity: Madagascar is home to as many as 12,000 plant species -- 70-80% of which are endemic -- making it one of the most diverse floras on the planet. Flora of Madagascar.

Animal biodiversity: Madagascar has some of the highest biodiversity on the planet. Of roughly 200,000 known species found on Madagascar, about 150,000 are endemic. Unique to the island are more than 50 types of lemurs, 99 percent of its frog species, and 36 genera of birds. Madagascar houses 100 percent of the world's lemurs, half of its chameleon species, 6 percent of its frogs, and none of its toads. Some species found in Madagascar have their closest relatives not in Africa but in the South Pacific and South America. Wildlife of Madagascar.

Madagascar News

New list of primates in peril aims to focus attention and inspire action (August 5, 2025) - A new list of the 25 most threatened primates has been published by the International Primatological Society, which held its 30th congress in Madagascar in July. - More than 40% of primate species are classed as endangered or worse, and the biannual listing of the most threatened species aims to draw attention to species at particularly high risk, and inspire action to protect them. - The 2025 list includes species from Asia, Africa and the Neotropics. - Some species are absent from the latest list thanks to an improved outlook, but others have been displaced only because of the deteriorating situation for others. More than 10,000 species on brink of extinction need urgent action: Study (July 30, 2025) - New research identifies 10,443 critically endangered species worldwide, with effective protection strategies available if funding and political will follow. - More than 1,500 species, or 15% of the critically endangered species, are estimated to have fewer than 50 mature individuals remaining in the wild. - Just 16 countries hold more than half of all critically endangered species, with concentrations across the Caribbean islands, Atlantic coastal regions of South America, the Mediterranean, Cameroon, Lake Victoria, Madagascar and Southeast Asia. - Improving the status of critically endangered species would cost between an estimated $1 billion and $2 billion annually, a small fraction of global economic activity and less than 2% of the net worth of billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg. Scientists trial chlorine as gentler alternative to antibiotics to fight coral disease (July 2, 2025) - Stony coral tissue loss disease (also known as SCTLD) spreads rapidly, causing high mortality rates among reef-building corals in the Caribbean. - The most effective treatment known to date is the application of an antibiotic paste, but this poses a major health concern due to the development of antimicrobial resistance, which in turn exposes sea life to threats over the long term. - Scientists have found that applying chlorine to affected reefs, delivered in a cocoa butter paste, can be both effective and more environmentally friendly, though it’s less effective than antibiotic treatment. - Tackling water pollution and maintaining the balance of ecosystems, which are now severely disrupted in many parts of the world, would be the best strategy for safeguarding corals against disease, experts say. Critically endangered chameleon discovered outside its known habitat in Madagascar (June 3, 2025) - In April, researchers found individuals of a critically endangered chameleon species in southwestern Madagascar. - Furcifer belalandaensis had not previously been recorded outside of a tiny area threatened by deforestation for charcoal and agriculture, and by the development of a major mining project. - Researchers working to improve knowledge of the Belalanda chameleon’s distribution were excited to find three of the rare reptile five kilometers (three miles) away, in the PK32-Ranobe protected area. - But Ranobe’s forests are also under pressure; captive breeding and revising the protected area’s management plan are among of the conservation measures being considered to ensure the species’ survival. Top 25 most threatened primates highlighted in new report urging action (May 8, 2025) - The latest list of the 25 most endangered primates includes nine from Asia, six from the Americas, six from the African mainland, and four from Madagascar. - Madagascar is home to 112 known lemur species, nearly all of which face the threat of extinction or what they report calls “collective endangerment,” where entire taxonomical groups are at risk of dying out. - Several primates feature on the list for the first time, including the Sahafary sportive lemur, red-bellied monkey, northern pygmy slow loris, Myanmar snub-nosed monkey, Central American squirrel monkey, and Bornean banded langur. - The report is also designed to spur conservation efforts for the listed species, as happened in the case of Brazil’s pied tamarin, a species for which the Brazilian government created a strict reserve in 2024. Madagascar highway pushes on through controversy (March 31, 2025) - More than a hundred Malagasy civil society organizations have called on the government to halt construction of a major highway after thousands of farmers were affected by unusual flooding linked to the project. - They are calling for compensation for affected communities and inclusive consultations before the project continues. - The highway, intended to link the capital Antananrivo to the port of Toamasina, has also been criticized for threatening ecologically important forests and a significant heritage site. Devastating flood forces relocation of 10,000 tortoises at Madagascar sanctuary (March 26, 2025) - In January, a rehabilitation center for critically endangered tortoises in southern Madagascar was severely impacted by heavy flooding caused by two cyclones. - The rescue center hosts thousands of tortoises rescued from traffckers; the flooding killed more than 800 of them. - Temporary solutions have been put in place to care for the now twice-rescued animals, as reconstruction will not be possible until later this year. - This is the first time the conservation center has faced disruption on this scale since it was launched in 2017. Re:wild and Age of Union announce conservation partnership (March 13, 2025) - The nonprofits Re:wild and Age of Union announced a new partnership to scale up their conservation efforts to focus on protecting critical ecosystems and developing creative projects like documentaries and art installations. - Their first collaboration will be a million-dollar restoration project in Madagascar, where 90% of original forest cover has been destroyed by slash-and-burn agriculture and the overexploitation of natural resources. - Leaders of both organizations said partnerships like this will be the key to scaling up conservation efforts and have a lasting impact on local communities. Chanel wanted ‘responsible’ gold. It turned to a protected area in Madagascar (February 21, 2025) - In 2019, French fashion house Chanel sought to obtain responsibly sourced gold from artisanal miners in Madagascar — who happened to operate inside a protected area that’s home to critically endangered lemurs and other wildlife. - Under the initiative, which eventually fell through, Chanel partnered with Fanamby, the local NGO managing Loky Manambato Protected Area in northern Madagascar, to formalize the operations of some 1,000 miners. - Fanamby has acknowledged that its tolerance for mining in the reserve’s buffer zone “is contrary to conservation,” but added “there is an arrangement” allowing this as long as the core area is left protected. - Conservation experts say Chanel’s approach — exploiting the fact that many supposedly protected areas aren’t very strictly protected at all — highlights weaknesses in the current conservation paradigm that will only grow more apparent as governments seek to designate more protected areas. Wave of arrests as Madagascar shuts down tortoise trafficking network (February 17, 2025) - A crackdown on the illegal trade in Malagasy tortoises has led to a series of recent arrests. - Following the arrest of a Tanzanian national with 800 tortoises in December 2024, officials said a major investigation had uncovered a major international trafficking network that led to the arrests of more than 20 people in Madagascar and Tanzania. - Wildlife trade monitoring watchdog TRAFFIC says more than 30,000 trafficked radiated tortoises were seized between 2000 and 2021; the critically endangered Malagasy tortoises are in demand internationally. How tortoise conservationist Hery Razafimamonjiraibe manages risks to antipoaching teams (January 10, 2025) - Environmental defenders in Madagascar have faced a spate of threats and attacks in recent years, overshadowing their work to protect biodiversity and human rights. - Against this backdrop, tortoise conservationist Hery Razafimamonjiraibe spoke with Mongabay about how his team manages threats working in often isolated conditions in the south of the country. - Antipoaching work is risky, he says, but this can be managed through close collaboration and cohesion between communities, NGOs and law enforcement agencies. Tortoise protection culture prompts efforts to curb trafficking in Madagascar (December 30, 2024) - Community-led antitrafficking networks are proving pivotal in helping authorities intercept poachers targeting critically endangered and endemic tortoises in southern Madagascar’s fast-disappearing spiny forests. - Illegal hunting, both for their meat and to supply the pet trade, has decimated the species’ population in recent decades. - Indigenous people living in the range of the imperiled species are motivated to protect them due to long-standing traditional beliefs that value and respect the tortoises. - But local efforts can’t solve everything; experts urge more action at national and international levels to step up law enforcement, combat systemic corruption, and crack down on the transnational criminal networks orchestrating the trade.

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Books

Madagascar, 9th: The Bradt Travel Guide
Madagascar Wildlife, 3rd: A Visitor's Guide
Mammals of Madagascar: A Complete Guide
Madagascar Travel Pack
Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands
Birds of Madagascar: A Photographic Guide
Lonely Planet Madagascar & Comoros
The Natural History of Madagascar
Malagasy-English: Dictionary and Phrasebook
Lords and Lemurs
The Eighth Continent: Life, Death, and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar
The Aye-Aye and I : A Rescue Journey to Save One of the World's Most Intriguing Creatures from Extinction
Shadows in the Dawn: The Lemurs of Madagascar