Photo of the Week

Residents of the island nation of Madagascar cast their votes Friday in a presidential election that many hope will restore security, improve lives and mark the end of political and economic turmoil suffered since a 2009 coup.

More than sixty percent of eligible voters in the country's capital, Antananarivo, went to the polls, election officer Martin Rakotofiringa said.

"This is the first time in several elections that I have seen a turnout this high," he said, after most polling stations closed.


People queue to cast their vote in Madagascar's first free election since a military coup in 2009.



VIDEO SERIES Before It's Too Late: The Island Ark of Madagascar

Join us for the third and fourth instalment of our current video series from Storyteller Digital!

These episodes give more of an insight into the beauty and importance of the wildlife of Madagascar by taking a  look at the impact of illegal activities such as poaching on the islands biodiversity.

 

 

Elections in Madagascar

Madagascar is currently counting the results of its first free election since a political coup in 2009. This is extremely exciting news as many people have described Madagascar's political and economic situation as in 'turmoil' as a result of aid being frozen by foreign donors. For more reflection on this long awaited event have a look at some these videos reporting the progress. 

 

Photo of the Week

On the back of this weeks video series segment, our photo of the week is of the strange and curious aye aye.

                                        Aye aye

The aye aye is highly adapted to its native Malagasy home with mind boggling features such as bat-like ears which can detect insect larvae squirming inside trees and a bark breaking bite from strong incisor teeth. They use their long, probing second finger to then excavate its fleshy insect meal.

 

However, the aye aye is a species wrapped up in mysticism and superstition as the Malagasy see its elongated finger as a harbinger of death. Villagers actively hunt the aye aye partly due to their beliefs but also for their meat. Nevertheless, the aye aye's greatest threat is from deforestation and is currently listed on the  World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species.

 

Captive breeding programmes are in action in an attempt to bolster numbers and provide education on this unique species. The first captive bred infant aye aye in the UK was born at the Bristol Zoo Garden in 2005. Why go along and check it out? More information is available here....

http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/aye-aye

VIDEO SERIES Before It's Too Late: The Island Ark of Madagascar

Join us for the second instalment of our current video series from Storyteller Digital!

This episode gives more insight into the wildlife of Madagascar such as the mysterious and captivating aye aye as well as giving an interesting introduction to issues of resource management surrounding Slash and Burn farming - the major theme of research of the TASC Madagascar Project.

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VIDEO SERIES Before It's Too Late: The Island Ark of Madagascar

Madagascar is unique. It is home to some of the world's oldest species that exist no where else in the world. But humanity's encroachment on this island ark has pushing most of the species to the edge of extinction.

This award winning documentary looks at the work being done to save these endangered species before it's too late.

Storyteller produce and distribute documentaries and factual programming specialising in animals and nature; from endangered species and what's being done to save them to mysterious animal and monster stories.

http://www.storyteller.com.au
http://www.animalx.net
http://www.facebook.com/storytellermn
http://twitter.com/storytellermn
http://www.animalalliestv.com
http://beforeitstoolate.org/

Photo of the Week

This frog of the genus Boophis is one of over 200 new species discovered in a recent survey completed in Madagascar in 2009

The ecological wealth of Madagascar is often cited to be vast, complex and extremely beautiful. Its diversity is still only beginning to be uncovered by science and other disciplines which is evident by the discovery of over 200 new amphibian species during a new survey conducted in 2009. In the last 15 years scientists have found over 100 new frog species alone, demonstrating that a lot more species  can be found on the island than previous estimations suggested.

 

Frank Glaw, herpetology curator at Munich's Zoologische Staatssammlung, said in a statement. "Our new surveys show, there are more species than we suspected."