Life Science log

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online More than a hundred species of lemur are found on Madagascar, a small island in the Indian Ocean just southeast of the African mainland, and a new study suggests that many of these social primates are on their way out. According to the conservation group International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as many as 90 percent of the 103 species of lemur found on Madagascar should be listed on the Red List of Threatened Species Since 2009, conservation groups have continuously found evidence that illegal logging and hunting of lemurs is putting an increased strain on lemur populations. The IUCN?s Primate Specialist Group assessed the situation and found that 23 of the island?s lemurs qualify as Critically Endangered, the Red List?s highest class. The group places half of the species in the Endangered classification, and 19 more in the Vulnerable category. A critical listing means the population numbers less than 50 mature adults, or that the