The f8 Group: Photography and Occasional Commentary: Day ONE: A Visit to Lemurs Park, Antananarivo

Black-and-white Ruffed lemur snoozing after feeding time

Day One in Madagascar.
A morning visit to Lemurs Park (that's how it's spelt here), 25 kms out of the capital, Antananarivo.

Took us nearly two hours to get there through the terrible city traffic, rank air pollution and general human chaos that seems to pervade the capital (it took nearly two hours to clear customs, immigration and health checks at Ivato airport yesterday, then nearly two hours to drive into town!).

This private reserve is situated on a hillside along a meandering river. The park features semi-wild lemurs that had been kept as (illegal) pets, but have since been handed over once the government decided to clamp down native fauna being held as pets.

The animals live in the park, although they can move to other areas if they want - there are no fences or netting to restrict movement - other than regular feeding sessions and a vet on duty 24 hours a day.

The predominant species in the park are Cocquerel's Sifaka, the Black-and-white Ruffed lemur, the ubiquitous Ring-Tailed lemur, the smaller Mongoose lemur and the Bamboo lemur.

A slightly shy Coquerel's Sifaka hiding behind a clump of yellow bamboo.

A Coquerel's Sifaka posing nicely

This is a male Mongoose lemur - the male is much darker than the female.
The female here was very shy and refused to pose for me!

No guesses here - the ubiquitous Ring-Tailed lemur, snuffling about in the grass in the park. Ironically these were the hardest to get a clear shot.
Maybe once we see them in the wild...