EMBRACING ADVENTURE UNDER THE RAINFOREST CANOPY OF CAMP INDRI
By Diary Randriamora
I joined the Wildlife Madagascar Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve (ASSR) team on July 15, 2024. That day, I made my way from Sambava to Andapa, feeling both stressed and excited, wondering about the area, the people, and my future research as I made my way up the winding road.
Upon arriving in Andapa, I was greeted by Delaïd Rasamisoa, Wildlife Madagascar’s ASSR Conservation Program Manager. We talked about my plan for visiting Camp Indri and the status of Wildlife Madagascar research projects currently being conducted within the region. After a moderate hike, we finally arrived at Camp Indri, in the heart of eastern ASSR. There, I was greeted by some of the local guides and students (including Aro, Amie, and Joany) who immediately made me feel welcome, adding to the camp’s already awesome location and vibes.
The next day, I went with the team as they conducted their daily lemur monitoring. Over the entire next month, I continued to conduct these daily lemur follows, collecting broad-level behavioral and feeding ecology data, and further familiarizing myself with the lemurs and the site in anticipation of my future research project. Also, all of the local guides speak Tsimihety, a regional dialect of Malagasy. It was a little difficult at first, but I quickly learned, and we were better able to exchange knowledge, which was such a cool experience. That first month was enriching and I was excited to return in September to start my own study.
By early September, I was motivated and ready to return to Camp Indri. Since then, I have been stationed at Camp Indri, conducting lemur research in this expansive rainforest, focusing on three lemur species: the indri (Indri indri), the white-fronted brown lemur (Eulemur albifrons), and the silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus).
Some groups of silky sifaka and indri were already habituated, and I started my work habituating white-fronted brown lemurs. Habituation is a difficult process, following animals that do not necessarily want to be followed. But it is critically important for researchers to collect accurate observational data. Even though the white-fronted brown lemur group had more than 10 individuals, we continuously lost sight of them every day! We’d search the forest and eventually find them, but repeatedly lose them again and again. The same was true of our attempts to habituate a second indri group. Despite the difficulties, we finally overcame the challenge. I was proud of myself and the team!
Without their constant fleeing, I was able to fully appreciate watching the lemurs, and their daily activities and behavior fascinated me. My favorite moments include seeing them playing on the ground and fully suspended from the low branches. I want to spend my whole day just embracing moments like these. Also, one of the indri groups had a baby recently, which we have named “Titan.” It’s so precious to see the baby indri learn new things every day, experiencing its rainforest home. The reason we named it Titan is because of its wild character traits, but also because titan crystals are frequently mined within and around the reserve. While locals think of titan crystal as a precious stone, this Titan is also precious and in need of protection. Furthermore, I often found myself questioning why such an adorable animal is hunted by people.
Another memorable moment was watching a juvenile silky sifaka named “Spark” attempt his first scent-marking, imitating his father. I was also equally enamored the first time I heard one of the juvenile indri vocalize, a rather pathetic “huuuh huuh” noise before stopping suddenly. Such a funny moment!
Speaking of babies, some of the female white-fronted brown lemurs gave birth in October, and I was lucky to see the little ones growing up so fast. It was so fascinating to observe how differently the white-fronted brown lemurs took care of their young, including how they carried and nurtured them, compared to the larger-bodied indri. Every day seemed to be a new surprise, though we are still waiting for a baby silky sifaka. Hopefully one day soon!
Not every day is filled with carefree moments. One particularly scary moment occurred when I saw a female indri misjudge her placement and fall approximately 45 feet from the tree canopy! I screamed out, and my stomach dropped while my heart raced! Astonishingly, the indri quickly jumped back up into the tree, where she took a long break. Thankfully, she appeared to recover just fine, resuming her typical daily activities with her family group. Phew, what a huge relief!
Another stressful moment was during our documentary filming. We only had a few days, and the filmmaker needed to obtain good footage of all of the lemur species present at the site. Knowing where our monitored lemurs sleep, we planned to record the silky sifaka early in the morning, around 5 a.m. Fredoret (one of the Wildlife Madagascar guides) and I hiked to the sleeping tree where we had left the group the night before, but they were no longer there. OMG, I started to panic! Of course, this happened on the one day we planned to film them. Thankfully, after only a few minutes, we could see the group feeding further up the trail, and all was not lost! We radioed back to camp and Dustin Trayer (the videographer) was able to capture some incredible footage.
Living in the forest is an adventure; you can breathe fresh air every day, embrace the daily and sometimes constant rain, photograph incredible landscapes and wildlife, and even share knowledge with local people. I feel inspired by ASSR, and am ready to see what happens next on my rainforest adventure!
