Cyclone Chido devastated natural environments in Mayotte. A sign of this disoriented biodiversity: more and more lemurs are approaching homes in search of food. To help them, however, there are rules to follow.
On social networks, images of lemurs visiting terraces or homes in search of food are multiplying. This is one of the consequences of the passage of Cyclone Chido, which devastated natural areas and felled fruit trees. Despite this change in behavior, lemurs remain wild animals, and certain rules must be respected when approaching them.
“All physical contact should be avoided; lemurs can bite if they feel threatened.“, explains Latufa Msa, the director of the Mahorese federation of environmental associations. “You should not feed them by hand, this can make them less fearful, which can put them in danger from people with bad intentions.She also recommends avoiding sudden movements and bright lights, such as photo flashes, so as not to frighten them.
If you want to feed them, it is better to offer them “dRipe fruits and fresh vegetables in small quantities and occasionally.“If we may feel the need to help them, the risk is of creating a dependence on the human being.”We must avoid as much as possible feeding them free food.“, adds the director of the FMAE.
In a press release, the federation of associations also calls for increased vigilance on the roads to avoid crushing lemurs. The FMAE more generally asks everyone to take action to preserve the environment: avoid storing waste that could be carried by the rain into the lagoon and above all not burn it. “In addition to generating toxic fumes harmful to health, this practice considerably increases the risk of fire in a context of post-cyclonic drought,” explains the FMAE, which calls “for favoring the composting of green waste.”
France
World
