Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
'I WANT TO SEE AN AYE-AYE'
A glimpse of Madagascar's weirdest lemur is a
goal for many visitors. And many go away disappointed. When weighing up whether
to try to see one in the wild or to settle for a captive animal, you should bear in mind
that the aye-aye is a rare, nocturnal and largely solitary animal. Most of its waking
hours are spent foraging for food in the upper canopy; only occasionally does it des-
cend to the ground. So even in the reserve of Nosy Mangabe, which was created for
aye-ayes, your chance of seeing more than two distant shining eyes in the beam of
your torch is very small. I know of more than one visitor who spent a week on Nosy
Mangabe and never saw this animal.
That leaves the choice between the semi-wild aye-aye on the eponymous island at
Mananara or those caged in the two Malagasy zoos: Tsimbazaza in Tana and Ivoloina
nearToamasina.Mananaraseemstosatisfymostpeople,providingtheyknowwhatto
expect.Theanimalsare'wild'inthattheylivefreeandfindsomeoftheirfoodintheir
environment, but they are thoroughly accustomed to people so are easy to approach
and photograph. Don't assume, however, that aye-aye sightings are guaranteed here.
Some visitors are unlucky and see nothing.
Of the two zoos, Ivoloina is my choice because there are fewer visitors, which
means the animals are less stressed. At the time of writing they have just one female.
You can arrange to see the aye-aye at dusk as it starts to become active. Tsimbazaza
now has a day-to-night house, allowing you to see the creatures awake.
Outside Madagascar, an increasing number of zoos have night-reversed aye-aye-
cages. The best are London, Bristol and Jersey (the late Gerald Durrell's zoo) in the
UK and Duke University Primate Center in the USA.
DIURNAL LEMURS
Nick Garbutt
