September 1st is International Primate Day!
The order Primates is one of the most species-rich groups of mammals, third only to Bats and Rodents. Over 500 species belong to the primate order, including lemurs, tarsiers, monkeys, and apes! Did you know that although primates occur naturally in 90 countries, two thirds of all primates can be found in just four of those countries? Brazil, Madagascar, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are high-priority areas for primate conservation.
Not only are primates as a whole facing increasing pressures, but did you know 103 of 107 lemur species are threatened with extinction? And of those, nearly 1/3 are listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN RedList- meaning they are only one step away from extinction.
For all these reasons and more, LCF is proud to contribute to lemur conservation- both in Florida and in Madagascar. From LCF’s office in the SAVA region of northeastern Madagascar, staff work with conservation partners and communities bordering protected lemur habitats. Our work focuses on Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve (ASSR) and Marojejy National Park, together spanning 320 square miles of mountainous rainforests. It is in these areas that we help protect two of ‘The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates’- the indri and the aye-aye.
Join us in celebration International Primate Day today and every day! Learn about ways you can help on our Get Involved page.
Learn more about the dangers facing primates today:
Impending extinction crisis of the world’s primates: Why primates matter
Almost a third of lemurs and North Atlantic Right Whale now Critically Endangered – IUCN Red List
PRIMATES IN PERIL: The world’s 25 most endangered primates 2018-2020
Fig.1 Source:
Estrada, A., Garber, P. A., Rylands, A. B., Roos, C., Fernandez-Duque, E., Fiore, A. D., Nekaris, K. A.-I., Nijman, V., Heymann, E. W., Lambert, J. E., Rovero, F., Barelli, C., Setchell, J. M., Gillespie, T. R., Mittermeier, R. A., Arregoitia, L. V., Guinea, M. de, Gouveia, S., Dobrovolski, R., … Li, B. (2017). Impending extinction crisis of the world’s primates: Why primates matter. Science Advances, 3(1), Article e1600946. https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/1/e1600946