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
Sun, sand and skulls: Bali tourism trade peddles threatened primate skulls (February 12, 2025)
- Indonesia’s Bali, with its beautiful beaches and ancient temples, is a tourist hotspot where many businesses cater to foreign travelers, including those that sell art and curios.
- A new study finds that primate skulls, including those from threatened species such as orangutans, gibbons and proboscis monkeys, are openly sold in these shops, despite the trade being illegal.
- Between 2013 and 2024, researchers recorded more than 750 carved and uncarved primate skulls sold to mainly foreign tourists, with sales increasing over time.
- Conservationists say this illegal, barely monitored international trade poses an additional threat to already threatened primates in Indonesia, and call for stricter law enforcement and monitoring to shut down the trade.
More cable car controversy surfaces in Nepal’s western mountains (February 12, 2025)

- Nepal’s National Planning Commission granted “national priority” status to a controversial cable car project in the Annapurna Conservation Area, despite pending legal challenges and environmental concerns.
- The decision has been criticized for lacking legal grounds and potentially violating a Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a law allowing infrastructure projects inside protected areas.
- Legal experts warn that the decision could be in contempt of court, as the full text of the Supreme Court’s ruling on protected area infrastructure is still pending.
Wild baboons don’t recognize their own mirror reflections (February 12, 2025)


Bobcats benefit both human and ecological health, but their growing populations are often misunderstood (February 11, 2025)


Japan sees record snowfall as Australia braces for cyclone Zelia (February 11, 2025)


CITES rejects proposed suspension of Cambodian monkey exports (February 11, 2025)

- Cambodian exports of long-tailed macaques will remain legal until November 2025, despite recommendations for suspension due to concerns over poaching and the misrepresentation of wild-caught monkeys as captive-bred.
- Cambodian officials strongly objected to the call for a trade suspension, disputing claims about unrealistic birth rates at breeding facilities and accusing the U.S. wildlife officials of misusing data obtained without their consent during investigations into alleged monkey laundering.
- Japan, China, Canada, the U.S. and other countries that import macaques for use in medical research rejected the suspension, arguing for further review; some expressed confidence in Cambodian compliance, while Canada acknowledged the importance of the trade to its research industry.
- Conservation groups expressed disappointment, highlighting the ongoing threats to wild macaque populations, including poaching, habitat loss and zoonotic risks, and warning that the decision enables unsustainable trade practices in the face of mounting evidence of misconduct.
Singing lemurs found to be dropping beats just like King Julien (February 11, 2025)


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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