Lemurs of the Lost World
About this book
Rising 200m from the dry savannahs of northern Madagascar, the Ankarana Massif hides its zoological riches behind a fortress of unclimbable cliffs, vicious limestone pinnacles and ferocious thorny shrubs. Entering the Lost World through 60 miles of caves and along deep forested canyons, Jane Wilson found not dinosaurs but other gentler ecological curiosities: a wealth of lemurs, strange endemic birds, chamaeleons, blind fish and much more. Ankarana has its guardians too: seven-metre crocodiles live in the subterranean rivers and hairy saucer-sized spiders, lethal scorpions and huge venomous centipedes patrol the sunken forests.Interspersed with descriptions of the entertaining lemurs, come accounts of the hardships, disappointments, dangers and excitements of exploring the Crocodile Caves and the isolated forests, providing a glimpse of the realities of ecological fieldwork, conservation dilemmas, the personalities of the team, the Antankarana locals and their strange rituals.Finally journeys covering the length and breadth of the Great Red Island are included so this is a perfect introduction to this marvellous land.