Diademed Sifaka by Marsel van Oosten

Diademed Sifaka by Marsel van Oosten

The diademed sifaka is an endangered species of sifaka endemic to Madagascar. It is often described as one of the most colorful and attractive of all the lemurs, having a long and silky coat. Its habitats are the eastern Madagascar lowland forests and parts of the Madagascar sub-humid forests. Unfortunately, the diademed sifaka is classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List and is listed in CITES Appendix I. Population estimates for the species range between 6,000 and 10,000 individuals. The primary threat is – yep, you guessed that right – habitat reduction due to shifting cultivation by native peoples. This threat is also present even within designated national parks, which are sufficiently distant from the center of government, that enforcement of existing national laws protecting this species is problematic. Pressures of overpopulation in central and eastern Madagascar are causing many of the rural poor to seek subsistence by seizing whatever forest lands are available and undertaking slash-and-burn tactics as their initial step in a shifting cultivation system. I love photographing wildlife, but unfortunately so often the back story is quite depressing. Those eyes looking at me actually make me feel guilty of being a human. Like it’s saying: ‘Hey you, wtf are you doing? Stop messing with my home! Do I need to come down from this branch?!’ Marsel | squiver.com

Marsel van Oosten: Photos