Wildlife of Madagascar

The wildlife of Madagascar includes its flora and fauna and their natural habitats. The island has been isolated for about 70 million years. Because of this, a very high proportion of the plants and animals are endemic, occurring nowhere else in the world. Many species are related to those found in mainland Africa but others have Asian affinities. A few are related to species found in South America and the South Pacific, relics of the time when these landmasses formed part of Gondwanaland.

Fauna

Mammals

The lemurs are the best known of Madagascar's mammals. In the absence of monkeys and other competitors, these primates have adapted to a wide range of habitats and diversified into numerous species. The nocturnal aye-aye, now classified in a separate group to the lemurs, is the only other primate on the island apart from man. The tenrecs are another group of mammals characteristic of Madagascar. Most of the world's species of these small to medium-sized insectivores are found on the island. Rodents are poorly represented on the island with only a handful of native species, all belonging to the subfamily Nesomyinae. They include the large, endangered Malagasy giant rat. Due to their ability to fly, a greater variety of bats have reached the island. However only about a third of these are endemic, a lower proportion than in other groups of land mammals. There are eight members of the Carnivora on the island, all now classified in the endemic family Eupleridae. The cat-like fossa is the largest of these.There are other animals in the tropical and wet dry climates of Madagascar, and many are hooved. The Gazel and Impala are some of these magnificent animals.

Birds

About 280 species of bird have been recorded on Madagascar and about 200 of these breed. Although these are relatively low numbers for a large tropical island, there is a high degree of endemism. Over 100 bird species are endemic and 49 of these are restricted-range endemics with a range of less than 50,000 km². There are five bird families unique to Madagascar or shared only with the Comoro Islands: the mesites, the ground-rollers, the cuckoo-roller, the asities and the vangas. In addition, recent studies suggest that several songbirds should be grouped together in a new endemic family: the Malagasy warblers.

Reptiles and amphibians

Relatively few families and genera of reptile have reached Madagascar but they have diversified into more than 260 species, with over 90% of these being endemic. The chameleons are very well represented with two-thirds of the world's species found there. The other lizard groups on Madagascar are the geckoes, skinks, girdle-tailed lizards and iguanids. Over 60 different snakes occur on the island; none of these are harmful to man. There are five land tortoises, four endemics and one introduced species. Madagascar's largest reptile is the Nile crocodile which has become very rare due to hunting for its skin.

There are more than 150 amphibians in Madagascar with new species being found regularly. Nearly all of these are endemic and the majority are restricted to primary forest.

Insects

Madagascar is home to huge variety of insects, the majority of which are endemic. Thousands of species are present in some groups such as the beetles and moths. Distinctive species include the long-necked giraffe weevil, the huge comet moth and the butterfly-like Madagascan sunset moth. About 80 species of stick insect occur; the "Achrioptera" species are large and colourful while others are small and very well-camouflaged. Many of the island's praying mantises are also well-camouflaged, mimicking dead leaves or bark. There are over 100 cockroaches, including the large Madagascar hissing cockroach.

Marine life

The seas around Madagascar host a high diversity of wildlife. There is a still a large area of mangrove swamp around the coast, particularly in the west, and there are extensive coral reefs around the island. Thousands of different fish species occur, including the rare coelacanth. Four species of sea turtle breed on the beaches but many are taken for food by local people. Humpback whales breed off the south-western coast.

Flora

Madagascar has a very rich flora. There are approximately 10,000 species of native vascular plant of which about 80% are endemic. There are several endemic families including the Asteropeiaceae, Sarcolaenaceae and Sphaerosepalaceae.

The humid eastern part of the island was formerly covered in rainforest with many palms, ferns and bamboo; much of this has now been destroyed by human activity. The west has areas of dry deciduous forest with many lianas and with tamarind and baobabs among the dominant trees. Spiny bushland occurs in the south-west with many cactus-like plants of the Didiereaceae family and many species of "Euphorbia". Subhumid forest once covered much of the central plateau but grassland is now the dominant vegetation type there.

Conservation

Since the arrival of humans on the island, there has been an extensive amount of habitat destruction. Large areas of forest have been felled and wetlands have been drained. Introduced species have spread into native habitats. A number of endemic species are threatened by hunting.

Some species have already become extinct, particularly large species such as the elephant birds, Malagasy hippopotamuses and giant lemurs like "Megaladapis". Many surviving species are endangered including most of the lemurs.

A network of national parks and nature reserves has been set up to protect wildlife and their habitats. A number of organizations are involved in conservation on the island including the World Wide Fund for Nature, Madagascar Fauna Group and BirdLife International. Captive breeding programs have been set up to conserve some of the lemurs.

References

* African Bird Club (2007) " [http://www.africanbirdclub.org/countries/Madagascar/introduction.html Madagascar] ". Accessed 6 December 2007.
* Encyclopædia Britannica (2007) [http://library.eb.co.uk/eb/article-23462 "Madagascar"] , "Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition". Accessed 6 December 2007.
* Preston-Mafham, Ken (1991) "Madagascar: a Natural History", Facts On File, Oxford.

External links

* [http://www.mwc-info.net/en/ Madagascar Wildlife Conservation]