ANIMALS

Meet the ‘Dancing Lemurs’, Chester Zoo Celebrates the Arrival of Endangered Coquerel’s Sifakas

These lemurs, named Beatrice and Elliot, are in danger of disappearing and traveled a long distance of over 4,000 miles from the Duke Lemur Centre in North Carolina. Their arrival at Chester Zoo is a significant event as they are the first of their kind in Europe.

A video filmed at the zoo showcases the lemurs’ mesmerizing dance-like movements. Holly Webb, a keeper who specializes in primates, explains that when these lemurs are on the ground, they move in a unique sideways gallop. To maintain balance, they hold their arms up, creating an elegant dance-like appearance.

The baby Coquerel’s sifaka lemurs, who are only eight weeks old, have come all the way from the Duke Lemur Centre in North Carolina to their new home at Chester Zoo, a distance of about 4,000 miles.

Image source: SWNS

They are skilled at performing amazing tricks in the trees, jumping as high as 30 feet using their strong legs.

The zoo staff, including the keepers, vets, and logistics teams, collaborate to develop a customized diet plan to meet the lemurs’ specific nutritional requirements.

As vegetarians, they will enjoy a variety of plant species, including specially cultivated trees that provide them with unique and tasty meals.

Image source: SWNS

Primate keeper Holly Webb said: ‘When down on the ground, Coquerel’s sifaka lemurs move around with a fascinating sideways gallop while gracefully holding up their arms for balance – it rather looks like they’re doing an elegant dance’.

Image source: SWNS

The staff at Chester Zoo are thrilled to take care of these fascinating animals and are eager for visitors to learn about the difficulties they face in their natural habitat.

Coquerel’s sifaka lemurs, which come from Madagascar, have experienced a significant 80% decrease in their population in the last 30 years because of extensive deforestation.

Mike Jordan, the Animal & Plant Director at Chester Zoo, stresses the significance of creating a stable population of these lemurs in the top zoos of Europe. This is crucial for preventing their extinction and preserving opportunities for future conservation efforts.

Mike Jordan, Animal & Plant Director at Chester Zoo, said: ‘Coquerel’s sifaka lemurs are critically endangered, and what we aim to do now is to establish a safety-net population in Europe’s top zoos and help to prevent their extinction’.

Image source: SWNS

The endangered animals have a unique way of walking on the ground called a “sideways gallop.”

Image source: SWNS

The lemurs, Beatrice and Elliot, are amazing jumpers. They can cover distances of 20 to 30 feet with their strong legs.

Image source: SWNS

He mentions that the cutting down of trees in Madagascar has limited lemurs to only a few small areas of forest in the northwest. This shows how important it is for zoos that focus on conservation to play a vital role in safeguarding this special species from disappearing forever.

The place where lemurs naturally live in Madagascar is being destroyed because trees are being cut down.

Image source: SWNS

Mr. Jordan said: ‘Forests are being destroyed en masse – from burning to provide pasture for livestock to logging for charcoal production’.

Image source: SWNS

The Sifakas, which are from Madagascar, have decreased by 80 percent in only 30 years. Chester Zoo mentioned that its two new members will help teach people about the challenges Sifakas face in their natural habitat.

Image source: SWNS

ANIMALS

Amazing Video of Unseen Ocean Creatures in the Ningaloo Canyons

The Schmidt Ocean Institute recently explored the Ningaloo Canyons on the western coast of Australia using a robotic underwater vehicle called the ROV Sebastian. Check out the amazing video of what they discovered in the deep parts of the Indian Ocean.

More info: Youtube

ANIMALS

These Pics Are Art and the Artists Are Insects

Flying insects move so quickly that they are hard to follow, but new technology and some smart ideas have helped Spanish photographer Xavi Bou do just that. After spending 10 years focusing on birds in flight for his Ornithographies project, he turned his attention to insects.

For Entomographies, he uses high-speed video footage taken by Adrian Smith, an insect expert at North Carolina State University, to study and record how insects move. Bou then picks multiple frames and combines them into single images that show the fast movements of one or more insects through space and time.

With Smith’s help, Bou has captured the aerial tricks of wasps, the jumps of leafhoppers, and the fluttering of butterflies in amazing detail. He hopes that by doing this, he can make people more aware of the decline in important insect populations around the world.

1. Zebra longwing

This butterfly, which is common in many areas of the Americas, really fits its name. It can fly very high with just a few flaps of its large wings.