Endangered Aye-Aye – Harbinger of Misfortune
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Considered by locals as a harbinger of misfortune, the aye-aye is one of the world’s most rare and bizarre looking primates. To the Malagasy people, the aye-aye is magical, and believed to bring death to the village it appears in; therefore they’re often killed on sight.
Kintana, a four-day-old aye-aye at Bristol Zoo Gardens in the UK, one of only two
to be born and reared in captivity. Photo BBC
The main threat to the aye-aye is destruction of its habitat. The Madagascar forests are cleared for sugar cane and coconut plantations, and are frequently cut down for use in construction of boats, houses and coffins, leaving the aye-aye without food and home. They’re forced to resort to eating what plantations provide, causing the animal to become a pest to farmers for which they’re often killed.
Aye-ayes are typically unafraid of humans and easy to capture, targeting them as easy prey.
Such hunting, coupled with habitat destruction has classified the aye-aye as Endangered by the 2000 IUCN Red List and considered the most endangered of all mammals in Madagascar. Today they’re protected by law which is often difficult to enforce.
Photo Duke University
Their lifespan in the wild is unknown, but in captivity they can live for up to 23 years.
The aye-aye is the world’s largest nocturnal primate with an average head and body length of 16 inches (40 centimeters), a long bushy tail of 2 feet (61 centimeters) long, and weighs about 4 pounds (2 kilos). The Aye-aye has large beady eyes, black hair, and large spoon-shaped ears. It has 5-fingered hands with flat nails, with a middle finger up to 3 times the length of the others.
They occupy rain forests, dry forests, mangroves and bamboo thickets primarily on the east coast of Madagascar, but many live in cultivated areas due to deforestation.
They’re the only primate to use echolocation — a means of locating an object based on an emitted sound and the reflection back from it — which they use to find grubs in trees. They tap on the wood to locate the larvae, then gnaw holes and insert their elongated middle finger which appears to be little more than skin and bone to fish the tasty, fat grubs from the rotting logs and branches. They also feed on seeds, fruit, nectar and fungi.
Aye-ayes live alone or in pairs in trees. They’re nocturnal and construct elaborate sleeping nests to sleep in during the day.
During mating, aye-ayes hang upside-down on a branch — the procedure lasts for about an hour. One infant is born after a gestation period from 5 to 5 1/3 months. Births can occur at any time during the year, and females often wait 2 to 3 years between births. The infant takes about 7 months to be weaned, and stays with its mother for two years.
This post is written in part of the international initiative of bloggers known as “Blog Action Day,” with the aim of uniting thousands of blogging voices, talking about one issue — the environment — for one day.
Sources: BBC and Wikipedia.
Read more about our environment and what mankind’s effect has had on our great planet Earth:
Congo Rebels Capture Wildlife Habitat for Rare Gorillas
Palm Oil Risks Orangutans Existence
Rare River Baiji Dolphin Now Extinct
Zoos Killing Healthy Tigers for Skin Trade
Save Our Whales – Sea Shepherd
Copyright 2007 Life in the Fast Lane
Tags:animal animals aye aye aye ayes deforestation echolocation endangered extinction habitat destruction mammals primate primates
ohhh what an endearing little creature Deborah
the poor thing…to have such unfortunate magical powers…..I do hope it doesn’t become extinct like our Tasmanian Devil……
I think they’re so odd looking that they’re adorable Kim. Sad how a superstition could contribute so much to its demise
Very tragic about the Tasmanian Devil, and countless other creatures whose existence is at a crucial level, all due to mankind.
I really love the first photo of this little guy.
I do too David, thanks
That top picture of this thing looks just like I do at 5 a.m without my first cup of coffee.
…looks like I’m cancelling my trip to Madagascar. I have no desire to be killed on site without my first cup of Folger’s.
23 years for such a small creature is a lot. Amazing. I didn’t even know they existed. Your entry really reminded me that there are so many other wonders on Earth I am not aware of. And what a pity!
Haha, I’m sure most of us don’t have our game on when we first get up in the am Mooog
This little gem of a creature is but one of many little known creatures that most of us have never heard about Mihaela. And a high number of them are on endangered species lists.
aye-aye r very UGLY animals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
AAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
So cute
wwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrddddddddd
looking
gangster lookin
is it dead o que pedo?
we r studing it nooooooooooooooooooooooo
that is not the way i r!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I adore aye-ayes. I’ve done some research on them but I haven’t gotten very far.
They are most adorable, S’ree. I haven’t found a whole lot about them myself on the net. Possibly because they’re so rare.
it’s kinda ugly know y they kill it bad luck
to the first person. I think you may have meant the Tasmanian Tiger, cos the devils are still around,bless the all devils, tigers and aye-aye alike
Hi, just by way of clarification, the Tasmanian Devil is not extinct,…..the Tasmanian Tiger is.
is ayeayes all dead?
or there is some more?
is ayeaye like pandas?
No Zihao, they are not all dead, but they are definitely endangered and near extinction. And no, they are nothing remotely close to pandas with the exception that they’re both an endangered species.
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Aint it a sad indightment on human kind that we kill things because of ignorant beliefs, greed, fear or is it just plain old stupidity?
I personally think we as a race on earth need to be aware of ourselves and the damage we can inflict.
Dale Green.
ARE THEY CLOSE TO BEING GONE
they are adorable! i absolutely love them and want to help but dont know how!