Chapter IV: On the look for mongoose lemurs or how I learned my first
III. Mariarano expedition (2017 May 10th-July 28th)
2. On the look for mongoose lemurs
We started to look for E. mongoz on May 15th using several methods, first, we walked around the roads and few transects crossing different parts of the forest at dawn and dusk, We also carried out some playbacks of E. mongoz calls provided ahead by my colleague Dr. Matthias Markolf, postdoc researcher in the Sociobiology/Anthropology department of the University of Göttingen. These playbacks were unsuccessful, with only a few answers from the E. fulvus and none from E. mongoz. More successfully, our guides interviewed some villagers on possible places and times they had encountered the E. mongoz in the past and adapted our walks in accordance.
Figure IV.6: Space occupation by the different groups identified in Ankatsabe forest
We found our first group on May 17th, only three days after starting to look for them. This group was a couple found at the border of our camping area (red in Figure IV.6). We then found, 9 days later, on May 26th, a solitary male in an isolated fragment of the forest (green in Figure IV.6). On June 4th, we found a group of 4 individuals, an adult pair, and likely their two female offspring from the two precedent years (blue in Figure IV.6). We finally found our last group on July 3rd; this group had the same composition as the precedent one (yellow in Figure IV.6). Figure IV.6 shows the space occupancy of these different groups during our study time. Figure IV.7 shows the frequencies at which the different groups could be located. On average 75.2% (n=149) of our visits were successful, meaning that we could localize the individuals. These individuals were observed during their daytime activities between 6 am and 10 am and then between 3 pm and 6 pm. Once arrived in a given territory, the individuals were on average located after 1.2±0.2 hours of research. Hence, to maximize observation time we always left camp two hours before the observation time started.
Individual recognition was possible and facilitated by sexual dimorphism, special features (walleyes, one-eyed), size, and color patterns. A few days' live observation training and through pictures was enough to recognize the individuals accurately. After 2-3 visits, the individuals stopped spending considerable time staring at us and no more occurrences of alarm vocalizations or tail waving were observed in our direction.
am 92%
pm 83%
am 59%
pm 78%
am 82%
pm 100%
am 67%
pm 76%
Lunar phases
● ○ ● ○
A B C E
0 1 2 3 4
Number of visit
Animals were not found Animals were found
Figure IV.7: Localisation frequencies of the different groups of E. mongoz identified in Ankatsabe forest.
15 Building on the experience in Mahaitromby and following the recommendations of (Williamson and Feistner 2003) I decided to provide special tee-shirts for our observations.
The idea is to provide additional cues to the animals allowing them to identify us and possibly discriminate us from other humans as potential hunters. The color blue was chosen considering the knowledge on color vision in true lemurs (Jacobs and Bradley 2016) and to respect the “fady” of certain ethnic groups in Madagascar. During our stay, we found traps for ground birds on one occasion (Figure IV.8) and toy weapons to hunt lemurs in the forest.
We also heard some mention of hunting events but mostly happening outside of the area managed by the VOI. We also witnessed one wild boar hunting event (Figure IV.9). This event was justified to us by being outside the protected area, the wild boar having been found and hunted in the border of the rice fields.
Figure IV.8: Trap for ground birds found in Ankatsabe forest
Figure IV.9: Wild boar hunted in the border of Ankatsabe forest
Figure IV.10: Forest burning activity for village extension observed in Mariarano
During my time in Mariarano I could witness some cleared forest areas in the border of the forest (Figure IV.10). These areas were likely intended to answer the village expansion with new buildings and houses construction. One of these open areas even seemed to have cut the territory of one of the groups we observed as they were observed in both extremities of this open area. However, I also observed some well-preserved forest areas and active and strong engagement of part of the local population to preserve the forest.
IV. Conclusion
This report aims to share knowledge and information on possible sites to study E. mongoz and forest degradation. It is also a testimony of my own learning process on organizing projects, take decisions, and manage a team and a budget. It is probably, even more, a testimony of my discovery of the ethical responsibilities that go hand in hand with any research project independently of possible conservation ambition. This is especially true when approaching unhabituated populations of critically endangered species. I feel privileged to have spent a bit of time with these wild and rare individuals and hope to contribute somehow to increase the knowledge I have about them. I feel just as privileged to have shared this time with welcoming, experienced, passionate, and open-minded people from the local community. This experience was as challenging as inspiring both professionally and personally.
V. Acknowledgments
I am first extremely grateful to LLuìs Socias Martìnez for believing in this project by my side, for his resulting continuous support during this long and absorbing process, and his understanding. I also particularly and warmly thank Basile Andriambeloson, Janoarisaona Randrihaniharisoa, Armand-Célestin Tsimanihitra, Lydia Raharisoa, and Mônique Rayanadramiasy for their welcome, their guidance, and participation during daily life and data collection in Mariarano. They were great and indispensable support in this adventure and will remain as a family. I am also grateful to Claudia Fichtel and Peter Kappeler for their trust and for believing in and supporting this project. I also thank Lilas Allard for her active participation in data collection. I also thank the VOI members of Mariarano village, the DBCAM (Development and Biodiversity Conservation Action for Madagascar) members, and Rodin Rasoloarison for their contribution to implementing the research site and making this research possible. I thank Nourdine Mohamed for his welcome and guidance during the Mahaitromby expedition. I also acknowledge Solofonirina Rasoloharijaona, Herimalala Raveloson, Radhika Dave, Barry Ferguson, Peter Long, Rindra,
16 Sam The Seing, Matthias Markolf, Jennifer Pastorini, and Steve Goodman for answering my questions and sharing their experience, making this camp installation possible. I thank the Malagasy Ministère de l’Environnement et des Eaux et Forêts and the Direction Générale de l’Environnement, de l’Ecologie et des Forêts de la région de Boeny to allow this research. This research was conducted with the research authorization number 71/17/MEEF/SG/DGF/DSAP/SCB.Re and was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG FI 929/13-1) and the German Primate Center.