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    Corcovado National Park

    Madagascar

    There are [5] photos and [1] story about Madagascar

    We were having our Sifaka moment and loving it. But it got even better when the last member of the family jumped in front of us and she had a tiny baby clinging to her underside. How she clung on there during those massive leaps I'm not sure but she was beautiful, looking directly at me while I photographed. Our guide told us that females normally only give birth once every 2 years and that we were very lucky to see a baby. We felt blessed to be so close to such a rare animal and to think that such a small baby may play a huge role in the survival of the species, a tiny hope for the Angel of the Forest. by: bradleyjtsmith Views[305] Buoyed by our early success, we spent the third day at Camp Two, searching for the Silky Sifakas. However, it seemed that we had lucked out on the second day, as they were nowhere to be seen. We woke up to a beautifully clear day on the fourth day, so at the urging of the guide, who said this much clear weather was very rare in the rainforest, we decided to climb to the top of Mount Marojejy, spending the night at Camp Three. The climb was difficult and we felt a great sense of achievement in making it to the top but our main objective for visiting this remote National park was not to climb a mountain but to see and photograph the critically endangered Silky Sifakas. With that in mind we climbed down to Camp Two to continue our search. We only had enough food for one more night, so this was our last chance to see the Sifakas. Again, our guide entered the forest, searching for the Sifakas. We waited patiently at the camp but he returned just before dark without seeing them. Our final chance would be in the morning before a long hike down the hill to Park Headquarters. We started the day very early, with the guide searching in the forest near where we had seen them the other day. We were all packed and ready to hike down when we heard the same excited call from the forest. Our guide had found them again but the calls were coming from down the hill not up. We grabbed our gear and with the cook at our side, we headed down the slope. This time we arrived to find a family of 5 adults and juveniles sitting quietly high up in the trees. We watched them for around 30 minutes before they started moving down the branches, taking massive leaps from trunk to trunk. This was amazing to watch, as they jump and land feet first unlike any other primate species I had seen before. As the 5 Sifakas came down towards us they each followed the same route that the first one made. This first Sifaka was rubbing itself on each of the tree trunks with its chest. This meant that all 5 family members passed just in front of us stopping to smell the marking from the first Sifaka before leaping to the next trunk. They were completely unperturbed by our presence, which allowed us to view them acting naturally and photograph them at the same time. by: bradleyjtsmith Views[384] Our second day of trekking brought us to Camp Two, set next to a beautiful clear stream with views towards a granite cliff draped in forest. Our guide headed off into the jungle to look for the Sifakas loudly noting that they hadn't been seen for a number of weeks and they could be anywhere. Late in the afternoon, we heard an excited howl emanating from the forest. Apparently he had found them. We rushed up the hill, trying not to slip on the steep stairs as we climbed higher and higher. As we got closer, the calls were coming from the jungle off the side of the trail. The cook who had come to show us the way ducked off the trail onto a steep hillside covered in undergrowth. We followed as quickly as we could but the steep terrain, mud and vines were making it difficult to keep up. All the time I was getting my camera ready to take the first coveted shots. Just as we arrived at our guides side, the Sifaka family started to move, leaping from tree trunk to tree trunk away from our position. I was able to take one fleeting shot of the Sifaka heading into the forest before they disappeared across a stream. I suppose this is why they are known as the Angels of the Forest, as we weren't quite sure from our first encounter if they were actually real. by: bradleyjtsmith Views[310] My girlfriend and I jumped out of the taxi brousse at Park Headquarters with 3 boxes full of food and no idea what we were in for. After quickly organising our guide, cook and porters we headed off through the local village towards the park entrance. We could see the looming shape of Mount Marojejy in the background, seemingly so close to the small village yet still a 3 day trek away. We knew that somewhere in the shadow of the mountain was the rare Silky Sifaka. There was no sign of the Silky Sifaka on our trek to Camp one, apparently they favoured the higher altitudes closer to Camp two. However, we were lucky enough to see a group of brown lemurs on our trek to the first camp. This female lemur was surprisingly nonchalant given the history of lemur hunting that had occurred in the area in the past. by: bradleyjtsmith Views[305] Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot, containing a huge number of endemic species of plants and animals. Unfortunately, Madagascar is also one of the poorest countries in the world, which has meant that up to 90% of the original forest has been cleared for cattle grazing and wood fire cooking. Pockets of virgin forest do still exist, such as those found in Parc National Marojejy but they are usually isolated and hard to access. The high peaks and deep valleys of Marojejy (seen in the photograph) have meant that human encroachment has been kept at bay and existing protection measures hold back most of the deforestation. What makes Parc National de Marojejy so special is that it is one of only a handful of locations that the critically endangered Silky Sifaka still exists. Unable to be bred in captivity, the world population of these primates is only a few hundred and they have been on the world's 25 Most Endangered Primates list since its inception in 2000 (Lemurs of Madagascar 3rd Edition, 2010). I visited Marojejy in 2014 with the aim of seeing and hopefully photographing this most rare of primate species. Access is limited, requiring at least a 3 day trek through the thick jungle and mud that makes up the Silky Sifakas home. by: bradleyjtsmith Views[360]
     

    Searching for the Silky Sifaka

    Sunday, 23 Nov 2014 | Photo Gallery | Scholarship Entry

    I want to make a difference in this world. Humans continue to use the planets resources with little regard for the impacts on nature. For the last 2 years I travelled to some of the most isolated locations on earth in search of rare animals and wild landscapes.... Read more >
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    Tags: 2014 Travel Photography Scholarship

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