Day Ten - Ruffed lemurs and a froggy paradise

Today we had another full day in the reserve, this time led by head guide Jean-Noel. We headed to a different part of the forest from yesterday, with the aim of locating black and white ruffed lemurs. Again, we have this species at the IOW Zoo (Liberty and Lalaina) so I was especially keen to see them in the wild. We could hear a group calling but they were a very long way away. We headed towards the sound and eventually, with the help of the radio-tracker, we found a group of four animals. They were relaxing in a very tall tree, draping their limbs over the branches.

This species is officially classified on the IUCN red list as being critically endangered. They are such a ubiquitous sight in zoos that we can sometimes perhaps forget that there are only very few left in the wild. And here I was looking at some! It brought home to me how precious each of these individuals is, and how critical it is that we protect the few places where they are still found.
We spent a pleasant hour watching the lemurs and our guides kindly shared some of their deliciously sweet bananas with us. Just as we were about to leave the lemurs suddenly broke out into a territorial vocalisation - a loud, piercing call that travels a very long distance. It is a sound that I hear every day at work, but somehow, here in the forest, it sounded different: more poignant.
Jeff of course is really an amphibian enthusiast. He had been very patient and was just as excited as the rest of us to see the lemurs but he also knew that a couple of years ago a team of herpetologists had carried out an amphibian survey at Betampona and had discovered 27 new species. He was itching to visit the survey site and Jean-Noel, who also happens to be very keen on frogs, agreed to take us there. He warned that it was a long, steep trek but it was too good an opportunity to miss so we set off right down into the bottom of the valley. Jean-Noel has, like all good guides, very keen observational skills and as we followed the path he spotted a tiny pygmy chameleon. It was a perfect miniature version of this fascinating lizard and was about 4cm long.

By the time we arrived at the bottom of the hill my knees were really creaking. It was definitely worth the trek though. A sparkling river ran through a glade of trees and as the sun shone down through the canopy the leaves cast a wonderful green light across the floor. Frogs were everywhere. Jeff and Jean-Noel were like excited school boys as they gleefully caught and photographed large frogs and small, of so many different colours.

 

 

Several species were not known to exist anywhere in the world except this small, isolated valley. The air was full of frog sound, too, including the call of one of the critically endangered Mantella species. Once again I was reminded how important it is to conserve this wonderful forest.
We had a leisurely picnic by the river then reluctantly left this little bit of paradise and slowly made our way back up to the track before returning to camp and a much needed shower.

The afternoon was rounded off perfectly as dusk fell: a group of bamboo lemurs came to feed just a few metres from my veranda. Ingrid and Lana joined me to watch their exploits and we had a job to smother our laughs when the little lemurs left, one at a time, by launching themselves at the nearest ravenala. Each tiny animal landed with a huge thud, sending tremors through the whole plant!

We had a few extra treats for dinner tonight. One of the herps team, Angelica, had stayed in camp an extra day when her team left because she had sprained her ankle and wanted to rest it a bit longer. She brought some Italian treats to share so our rice and vegetables were supplemented with olive oil and parmesan cheese. In addition Charlotte, the cook, had used the potatoes I had brought with me to make a few chips. After dinner I brought out a bar of chocolate and there was just enough for everyone to have a square or two to round off the meal. Lovely!
After dinner Angelica, Ingrid, Jeff and I donned head torches and went up the main track for a bug hunt. We found a number of interesting creatures including one solitary stick insect, shiny copper beetles, a mantis and a fantastic net-throwing spider. We also came across a striped baby snake, several geckos and a tree frog.

It was late when we finally got back and I slept really well.