Center for Conservation in Madagascar
Background
Madagascar’s animal and plant species, including highly endangered lemurs, are found nowhere else in the world. The various species of lemur range anywhere from the pygmy mouse lemur, weighing only an ounce, to the indri, which can weigh up to 19 pounds. As recently as 2,500 years ago, lemurs the size of gorillas roamed the island, and 10-foot-tall birds, known as elephant birds, roamed the southern coast. Today, over 98% of the known lemur types are on the brink of extinction. Many other animals and plants on the island, such as the radiated tortoise and the beautiful rosewood tree, are also at risk of disappearing.
The Center for Conservation in Madagascar is one of the original Centers of the WildCare Institute. The Zoo is the International Headquarters of the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group (MFG) and also supports the work of Mahaliana.
St. Louis Interest
The Saint Louis Zoo was a founding member of the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group and has been committed to wildlife conservation efforts in Madagascar since the late 1980s, with the earliest efforts focused on conservation research and wildlife recovery of lemur species. However, wildlife conservation efforts have expanded to include other fauna, which has led to the discovery of over 35 new species of frogs as well as new insights about disease transmission among native and introduced carnivore species. While still deeply committed to conservation efforts for the three critically endangered primate species in Betampona (Diademed sifaka, black- and-white ruffed lemur, and Indri), the consortium also has flagship projects relating to working with communities to promote habitat restoration and agroforestry; and working with Madagascar’s Ministry of the Environment on the biological control of invasive species.
Since 2018, this Center has expanded its partnership to include Mahaliana Labs, which is a unique molecular diagnostic laboratory and training center with aims to have Malagasy scientists and conservationists work in-country on conservation issues relating to Madagascar’s endemic and critically endangered species. Dr. Fidy Rasambainarivo, the Scientific Director, is also an Affiliate Scientist of the Zoo and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at East Carolina University.
Lisa Kelley, Ph.D., Vice President of Conservation, Education and Science at the Saint Louis Zoo, serves as Chair of the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group, and is the Director of the WildCare Institute and the Center.
Action Leading to Impact
From species discovery to the expansion of protected habitat to the maintenance and improvement of Madagascar’s one of only two zoos, our decades of commitment is being rewarded with impact.
Photo by James Ward
Conservation Heroes
In 2017 the Saint Louis Zoo presented its Conservation Award to Karen Freeman, Ph.D., who is now Executive Director, and Jean Noel, Manager, of the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group.
To date, the survival of the endangered plant and animal populations in Betampona Natural Reserve can be wholly attributed to the continual presence of the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group's research team and these two amazing individuals.
Through their roles in the MFG, Freeman and Noel have worked together in Madagascar's Betampona Natural Reserve through decades of support and partnership with the Saint Louis Zoo WildCare Institute Center for Conservation in Madagascar.
Besides her extensive research, Freeman works to build relationships with local and national officials in charge of environmental affairs, university professors and students, mayors and village leaders, NGOs and a network of researchers to draw attention to the significant threat invasive plants and animals pose to the ecological structure of Betampona and other Malagasy rainforests.
Noel's passionate commitment to his native land's flora and fauna is demonstrated by the attention and care he pays to organizing the logistical needs of each researcher that works in Betampona. He has dedicated over 20 years to protecting the rainforest that was approximately two miles from where he grew up in Madagascar.