Madagascar’s Rainforest: Home of the Singing Indri

Join Joy Marzolf as she presents on Madagascar’s Rainforest!

The island of Madagascar is home to a wide variety of wildlife found nowhere else in the world. Despite widespread deforestation, some of the Eastern rainforests have been protected. Near Mantadia National Park, one might easily miss seeing cryptic chameleons and leaf-tailed geckos, or nocturnal birds like the rainforest scops owl and nightjars. Beautiful butterflies, and strange insects like the giraffe-necked weevil, can be found here along with tree-climbing mammals such as the bamboo and black-and-white ruffed lemurs, and the elusive diademed sifaka. Above all, the beautiful indri, known as the singing lemurs, can often be heard as their songs echo through the valley. Along the East coast, one can see colorful Madagascar green sunbirds and both crowned and black lemurs. This is also one of the few places where one can see the elusive and bizarre-looking Aye-Aye that uses its long middle finger to find grubs under bark. Madagascar is truly a land of unique wildlife.