Habitat/Conservation
The eastern lesser bamboo lemur is relatively abundant in the wild. Certain species of bamboo thrive as secondary growth, in areas where virgin rainforest has been cut down. In other words, as virgin rainforest in Madagascar falls to the axe, the bamboo lemur might benefit! In fact, this type of bamboo lemur is one of the few lemurs whose livable habitat may actually be expanding and whose wild population might subsequently be increasing. This lemur is protected in three National Parks, four Nature Reserves, and five Special Reserves.
Unfortunately the conservation picture for the more endangered varieties of bamboo lemur is grim. The lake Alaotra bamboo lemur's habitat in Madagascar is vanishing at an alarming rate. Found only around Madagascar's Lake Alaotra, and living in the reed and papyrus beds and marshes surrounding the lake, it is the only lemur which might swim in the course of day to day foraging (although this is by no means the preferred method of locomotion!) This lemur has the most restricted habitat of any, and as the reed beds surrounding the lake are continually being cut and burned by the local villagers, it is shrinking rapidly. The JWPT in the UK has an excellent breeding program for this species.
The golden bamboo lemur was only discovered in 1985 in Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar. Although it occurs in two protected areas (it is also found in Andringitra Nature Reserve in southeastern Madagascar), the range of this lemur is very small, and its habitat requirements are very strict. This species is not found in captivity.
The greater bamboo lemur is by far the largest species of bamboo lemur, with adult males weighing more than five pounds. It has an extremely limited range, and although it is found in two protected areas, the population continues to be threatened by slash and burn agriculture and is considered critically endangered, along with the golden bamboo lemur.