Range and conservation updates for the Critically Endangered blue-eyed black lemur Eulemur flavifrons and the Vulnerable black lemur Eulemur macaco J EN C. TINSMAN,CAITLIN L. ESCHMANN,J .S EDE R A S OLOFONDRANOHATRA
J OCE L Y N ROMEL I U S RAL A I NI R I N A,MARC HOL DE RIE D and GRÁI NNE MCCAB E
Abstract The Critically Endangered blue-eyed black lemur Eulemur flavifrons of north-western Madagascar is one of the most threatened primates. The majority of research and conservation efforts for the species have been restricted to the Sahamalaza Peninsula but there are unstudied and unprotected populations farther inland. The dearth of information regarding the transition between E. flavifrons and its parapatric sister species, the Vulnerable black lemur Eulemur macaco, and the possibility of a hybrid population complicates conservation planning for both species. We surveyed 29 forest fragments across both species’ ranges to investigate the boundary between the taxa, whether hybrids persist, and the threats to lemurs in the region. We found E. flavifrons in six fragments and E. macaco in 17. We never observed E. flavifrons and E. macaco in thesamelocation and we found no conclusive evidence of hybrids. Three fragments in which E. flavifrons was present were north of the Andranomalaza River, which had previously been con- sidered the barrier between the two species. Based on these observations and a literature review, we provide updated ranges, increasing the extent of occurrence (EOO) of E. flavifrons by 28.7% and reducing the EOO of E. macaco by 44.5%. We also evaluate the capacity of protected areas to conserve these lemurs. We recommend additional surveys and the implementation of an education programme in this region to help conserve both species.
Keywords Black lemur, blue-eyed black lemur, geographical range, Manongarivo Special Reserve, Sahamalaza–Iles Radama National Park, species distribution
JEN C. TINSMAN*‡ (Corresponding author,
orcid.org/0000-0003-2452-4573)
Columbia University, 116th St and Broadway, New York, New York 10027, USA. E-mail
jen.tinsman@gmail.com
CAITLIN L. ESCHMANN†‡ (Corresponding author) andMARC HOLDERIED School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK E-mail
caitlin.eschmann@
gmail.com
J. SEDERA SOLOFONDRANOHATRA and JOCELYN ROMELIUS RALAINIRINA University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
GRÁINNE MCCABE Bristol Zoological Society, Bristol, UK
*Also at: New York Consortium on Evolutionary Primatology, New York, USA †Also at: Bristol Zoological Society, College Road, Clifton, Bristol, UK ‡These authors contributed equally to this work.
Received 13 November 2017. Revision requested 8 February 2018. Accepted 13 June 2018. First published online 5 August 2019.
Supplementary material for this article is available at
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318000868
Introduction M
adagascar, a biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al., 2000), is home to .100 endemic species of lemurs, ac-
counting for .20% of global primate diversity; however, 94% of lemur species are threatened by hunting and defor- estation (Schwitzer et al., 2014). One of the species most af- fected is the Critically Endangered blue-eyed black lemur Eulemur flavifrons, which is subject to poaching and habitat loss as a result of slash-and-burn rice cultivation (tavy), log- ging and livestock rearing (Andrianjakarivelo, 2004; Seiler et al., 2010; Andriaholinirina et al., 2014a). The population of the blue-eyed black lemur declined by .80% during 1990–2014 (Andriaholinirina et al., 2014a). Estimates of E. flavifrons numbers have focused mainly
on the protected population in the Ankarafa Forest of Sahamalaza–Iles Radama National Park, where there are estimated to be 60–130 individuals/km2 (Schwitzer et al., 2006; Volampeno et al., 2010). Surveys of the isolated frag- ments where E. flavifrons occurs farther inland found much lower densities, with a mean of 24 individuals/km2 (Andrianjakarivelo, 2004). Based on these surveys there are only an estimated 2,780–6,950 individuals remaining (Schwitzer et al., 2006). A population viability analysis con- cluded that the Ankarafa population, which is the largest remaining, could be extirpated by 2026 (Volampeno et al., 2015). The vulnerability of E. flavifrons is partially attribut- able to its unique habitat; the species occurs only in the tran- sitional, subtropical forest between Madagascar’s western dry deciduous forests and the humid evergreen rainforests of the east (Schwitzer et al., 2007). The plant, amphibian, reptile and mammal communities of the Sahamalaza Peninsula include endemic species that occur nowhere else on Madagascar (Birkinshaw, 2004; Schwitzer et al., 2006; Penny et al., 2017). Although not confined to the Sahamalaza Peninsula, E.
flavifrons has one of the smallest geographical ranges of the genus Eulemur (Volampeno et al., 2010). Its estimated extent of occurrence (EOO; i.e. the smallest, continuous
Oryx, 2020, 54(6), 819–827 © 2019 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605318000868
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