![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/madagascar_tamatave_0084.jpg\")
<\/a>A black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata), an endangered species of ruffed lemur. Traders hunting lemurs for the urban luxury market are after large-bodied species like brown and ruffed lemurs. Image by Rhett A. Butler\/Mongabay.\nDamaging luxuries<\/p>\n
Rural subsistence hunting and the urban trade of lemur meat are largely separate but parallel systems, Borgerson said, though both exert pressure on lemur populations in different ways. Hunters seeking to feed rural families typically target the most abundant lemur species nearby <\/a>at times of the year when lemurs carry the most fat. But traders hunting lemurs for the urban market are after large-bodied species like brown and ruffed lemurs, from the genera Eulemur and Varecia, all year round \u2014 even during critical birthing and infant-rearing seasons, the study found.<\/p>\n The International Primatological Society and the Primate Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, issued a joint statement on July 26 warning about the luxury trade<\/a>. They said it amplifies pressure on already vulnerable people: peri-urban suppliers face prison and social shame just to earn a steady income, while wealthy urban buyers fueling demand walk away untouched. One buyer admitted bluntly to the researchers, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter for us buyers, because they don\u2019t really care if it\u2019s already in the pot.\u201d<\/p>\n Russell Mittermeier, chair of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group, said enforcement should target buyers \u2014 the real drivers of demand \u2014 rather than financially vulnerable hunter-suppliers, many of whom would take other opportunities if they could, according to Borgerson\u2019s study.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government needs to use the existing laws and the judicial system to crack down on this completely unnecessary drain on lemur populations,\u201d Mittermeier told Mongabay. \u201cMedia is also essential here. We need to embarrass those who are consumers through both national and international media and perhaps perform a sting operation to identify some of them publicly.\u201d<\/p>\n All lemur species, regardless of their conservation status, are strictly protected under Madagascar\u2019s wildlife law<\/a>, which prohibits their hunting, capture, possession, consumption or trade in any form. Crimes are punishable<\/a> by one to five years\u2019 imprisonment and\/or fines of 50 to 100 million ariary (around $11,000 to $22,000).<\/p>\n In a written response to Mongabay, Madagascar\u2019s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development stressed zero tolerance and strict, impartial law enforcement toward any form of offense involving lemurs, whether by hunter-suppliers or urban consumers.<\/p>\n The ministry is exploring the Lemur Bond, a new financing tool supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and inspired by green and biodiversity bonds. The bond would generate dedicated resources to protect lemurs and their habitats, strengthen antipoaching efforts, restore forests, and fund community programs and sustainable development.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal is to make lemurs emblematic species of Madagascar \u2014 a lever for mobilizing financial resources in support of biodiversity and the well-being of local communities,\u201d the ministry said. (On Sep. 29, the Malagasy president dissolved the government in response to mass, youth-led protests against living conditions, sparked by frequent electricity and water cuts. Ministers continue to serve until new ones are named, and it\u2019s not yet clear how this will affect projects like the Lemur Bond.)<\/p>\n Subsistence hunting, driven by food insecurity and local customs, remains the largest overall threat to lemurs, according to Borgerson\u2019s study, so funding like this would be a cornerstone of efforts to curb hunting. Initiatives such as insect farming help diversify diets<\/a> and reduce pressure on lemur populations.<\/p>\n But immediate action can also be taken directly against the luxury trade in lemur meat. The joint statement from the primatological society and the IUCN\u2019s specialist group also directly appeals to government authorities for tighter firearm controls and stronger enforcement against wealthy urban buyers.<\/p>\n With the ministry signaling its support for these recommendations, the statement\u2019s authors see an opening. \u201cWe must get shotguns out of the system \u2014 without them, the urban trade doesn\u2019t exist at this scale,\u201d Borgerson said. \u201cPairing legislation that would strictly control shotgun and ammunition with an internationally funded buy-back program would be humane and effective.\u201d<\/p>\n The key, she added, is to focus on strategic, data-driven actions aimed at the actors shaping the trade, while keeping in mind the human realities behind it. \u201cWe must create a situation where selling lemur meat is not the most reliable source of high-income cash for people without land. We can do better by creating stable, non-land-based economic alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n Changing consumer behavior in cities requires framing messages around issues buyers care about most. \u201cWe [should] use a stealth marketing strategy rooted in a shared concern: health. Increasing zoonotic disease research, and smart social sharing of those findings, would allow us to reduce demand using consumers own interests,\u201d Borgerson said.<\/p>\n \u201cEating is one of the most intimate connections we can have with nature,\u201d she added, \u201c[but] unfortunately it can also be the most impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n Banner image:\u00a0A Coquerel\u2019s sifaka (Propithecus coquereli). Image by Rhett A. Butler\/Mongabay.<\/p>\n Madagascar lemurs, tortoises seized in Thai bust reveal reach of wildlife trafficking<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For Malagasy trapped in poverty, threatened lemurs and fossas are fair game<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Eat the insects, spare the lemurs<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Citation: <\/p>\n Borgerson, C., McKean, M. A., Sutherland, M. R., & Godfrey, L. R. (2016). Who hunts lemurs and why they hunt them. Biological Conservation, 197, 124-130. doi:10.1016\/j.biocon.2016.02.012<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Hunters with shotguns, silky sifakas (Propithecus candidus), and white-headed lemurs (Eulemur albifrons) shot to be sold as meat, c. 2009. Image by Simponafotsy via Wikimedia Commons<\/a> (Public domain).
\nCharting the next steps<\/p>\n