Aye Aye
The Aye Aye is a species of Lemur that is found inhabiting the rain forests of Madagascar. It is also one of the most unique and is in fact so strange in appearance, that it was thought to be a large species of Squirrel when it was first discovered. However, these incredibly unique animals are severely threatened throughout much of their natural habitat and were thought to be on the brink of extinction by 1980, primarily due to them being killed instantly by local people who believe that seeing an Aye Aye is very bad luck. The Aye Aye is one of Madagascar's most endangered animal species.
The Aye Aye is a primate that is most closely related to Lemurs but is one of the most unique animals on the planet due the fact that it possesses a number of very distinct adaptations. The Aye Aye has long and bony fingers with sharp pointed claws on the ends to help when dangling from branches, but it is the middle fingers on their front feet which are their most distinctive feature. Much longer than the others, these fingers are opposable with a double-jointed tip and a hooked claw on the end and are used for both detecting grubs in dead wood and then extracting them.
Historically, the Aye Aye inhabited the coastal forests of eastern and north-western Madagascar but by 1983 they were thought to be almost extinct with only a few scattered individuals known to still be found there. The Aye Aye prefers dense, tropical and coastal rain forest where there is plenty of cover.
After a gestation period that lasts for about five months, a single infant is born and spends it's first two months in the safety of the nest, not being weaned until it is at least 7 months old. Young Aye Ayes will remain with their mother until they are two years old and leave to establish a territory of their own. A female Aye Aye is thought to be able to start reproducing when she is between 3 and 3.5 years old where males seems to be able to do so at least 6 months earlier.
The Aye Aye is an omnivorous animal that feeds on both other animals and plant matter, moving about high up in the trees and under the cover of night. Males are known to cover distances of up to 4 km a night in their search for food, feeding on a variety of fruits, seeds,insects and nectar. They are however specially adapted to hunt in a very unique way as they use their elongated middle finger to tap dead wood in search of the hollow tunnels created by wood-boring grubs, listening for even the slightest sound with their sensitive bat-like ears.
The secretive and tree-dwelling lifestyle of the Aye Aye means that it actually has very few natural predators in it's native environment, with the agile and equally nocturnal fossa being their most ferocious natural predator (along with birds of prey and snakes that hunt the smaller and more vulnerable young). Humans are in fact the biggest threat to the Aye Aye as populations have been obliterated in much of their native forests due to superstition from local people who believe that it is a bad omen to see one. In other areas where they are not feared in this way, the Aye Aye is hunted as bush meat. The biggest threat however to current populations is habitat loss caused both by deforestation and growing human settlements that encroach on the Aye Aye's natural habitat.
The main reason why Aye Aye population numbers have been critically low for years is that local people think that they are just too weird and many believe that seeing one is very bad luck indeed. One story says that if an Aye Aye points it's long middle finger at you that you will die, and other stresses that seeing one will lead to the death of a villager.
The Aye Aye is a primate that is most closely related to Lemurs but is one of the most unique animals on the planet due the fact that it possesses a number of very distinct adaptations. The Aye Aye has long and bony fingers with sharp pointed claws on the ends to help when dangling from branches, but it is the middle fingers on their front feet which are their most distinctive feature. Much longer than the others, these fingers are opposable with a double-jointed tip and a hooked claw on the end and are used for both detecting grubs in dead wood and then extracting them.
Historically, the Aye Aye inhabited the coastal forests of eastern and north-western Madagascar but by 1983 they were thought to be almost extinct with only a few scattered individuals known to still be found there. The Aye Aye prefers dense, tropical and coastal rain forest where there is plenty of cover.
After a gestation period that lasts for about five months, a single infant is born and spends it's first two months in the safety of the nest, not being weaned until it is at least 7 months old. Young Aye Ayes will remain with their mother until they are two years old and leave to establish a territory of their own. A female Aye Aye is thought to be able to start reproducing when she is between 3 and 3.5 years old where males seems to be able to do so at least 6 months earlier.
The Aye Aye is an omnivorous animal that feeds on both other animals and plant matter, moving about high up in the trees and under the cover of night. Males are known to cover distances of up to 4 km a night in their search for food, feeding on a variety of fruits, seeds,insects and nectar. They are however specially adapted to hunt in a very unique way as they use their elongated middle finger to tap dead wood in search of the hollow tunnels created by wood-boring grubs, listening for even the slightest sound with their sensitive bat-like ears.
The secretive and tree-dwelling lifestyle of the Aye Aye means that it actually has very few natural predators in it's native environment, with the agile and equally nocturnal fossa being their most ferocious natural predator (along with birds of prey and snakes that hunt the smaller and more vulnerable young). Humans are in fact the biggest threat to the Aye Aye as populations have been obliterated in much of their native forests due to superstition from local people who believe that it is a bad omen to see one. In other areas where they are not feared in this way, the Aye Aye is hunted as bush meat. The biggest threat however to current populations is habitat loss caused both by deforestation and growing human settlements that encroach on the Aye Aye's natural habitat.
The main reason why Aye Aye population numbers have been critically low for years is that local people think that they are just too weird and many believe that seeing one is very bad luck indeed. One story says that if an Aye Aye points it's long middle finger at you that you will die, and other stresses that seeing one will lead to the death of a villager.
All credit to NatGeoWild for the video!