The South - Madagascar - page 404

The de Heaulme family have made this one of the best-studied 260ha of forest in Mada-
gascar. Although in the arid south, its location on the River Mandrare ensures a good wa-
ter supply for the habitat of gallery or riverine forest, which is divided into two sections:
Malaza (near the tourist bungalows) and Ankoba to its northwest.
The joy of Berenty is its broad forest trails that allow safe wandering on your own, in-
cluding nocturnal jaunts. Remember, many creatures are active only at night and are easy
tospotinthelightofatorch.Aduskvisit(withaguide)tothereserve'sareaofspinyforest
is a must - not only for the mouse lemurs but also the surreal, magical experience of those
weird giant trees in silhouette.
Getupatdawnforthebestbirdwatching,andtoseethelemursopeningtheirarmstothe
sun. Enjoy the coolness of the forest before going in to breakfast.
WILDLIFE Lemurs are what most people come here for: brown lemurs, ring-tails and si-
fakas are all guaranteed sightings. They have not been hunted here for nearly a century, so
they trust people. They were fed bananas by tourists in the 1980s and 1990s, but this is no
longer allowed. Disappointed that an outstretched hand no longer offers food, they will try
to sneak into your cabin to find it for themselves. Ring-tailed lemurs ( Lemur catta ) have
an air of swaggering arrogance, are as at home on the ground as in trees, and are normally
highlyphotogenicwiththeirgrey,blackandwhitemarkingsandwavingstripedtails.These
fluffy tails play an important part in communication and act as benign weapons against
neighbouring troops which might have designs on their territory. However, Berenty's ring-
tails don't always look so photogenic (see box on Click Here ).
Thereareapproximately500ring-tailedlemursinBerenty,andthepopulationhasstayed
remarkably stable considering only a quarter of babies survive to adulthood. The females,
whicharewhollydominantoverthemales,arereceptive tomatingforonlyaweekorsoin
AprilorMay,sothereisplentyofcompetitionamongstthemalesforthisonce-a-yeartreat.
The young are born in September and at first cling to their mother's belly, later climbing
onto her back and riding jockey-style.