\n Published on
\n 26\/11\/2025 – 13:00 GMT+1\n <\/p>\n
Lemurs are at serious risk of being driven into extinction as affluent city dwellers ramp up demand for so-called luxury meat.<\/p>\n
The small primates, known for their bushy tails and large eyes, are already classed as one of the world\u2019s most endangered species.<\/p>\n
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 90 per cent of the 112 lemur species are threatened with extinction and have been placed on the Red List.<\/p>\n
While habitat loss, illegal logging and hunting have fuelled the population\u2019s demise \u2013 a recently discovered appetite for lemur <\/a>meat poses a new danger.<\/p>\n Madagascar\u2019s secret luxury meat trade<\/p>\n A four-year study in Madagascar<\/a> has exposed the \u201cstartling\u201d extent of the country\u2019s backstreet demand for luxury meat, despite a 60-year old ban on hunting lemurs.<\/p>\n Researchers\u2013 who interviewed 2,600 people across 17 major cities including key participants in the supply chain such as hunters, buyers, sellers and restaurant staff \u2013 found that nearly 13,000 lemurs are slaughtered<\/a> and eaten each year.<\/p>\n Lemur meat appeared on menus in over a third of the cities surveyed, but most trade (94.5 per cent) is conducted in secret between suppliers and \u201ctrusted clientele\u201d.<\/p>\n Researchers found the trade is fuelled by profit, with many consumers willing to pay more for lemur meat than traditionally farmed animals<\/a>, as well as perceived health benefits.<\/p>\n \u201cI eat it because I know things like that keep you young,\u201d one buyer admitted. \u201cThat\u2019s what people say in secret in the forest, it keeps you young because of the foods that they eat.\u201d<\/p>\n Another buyer described lemur meat as the \u201cmost delicious food\u201d they’d ever eaten, arguing: \u201cOnce you eat it, no one wants to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n Lemurs are being \u2018eaten into extinction\u2019<\/p>\n Brown lemurs, which the IUCN classifies as \u201cvulnerable\u201d, and ruffed lemurs, which are \u201ccritically endangered\u201d, were the most commonly consumed animals, with \u201cwealthy clientele\u201d driving the demand.<\/p>\n Scientists argue the crisis demands more than standard conservation efforts, adding: \u201cWithout a comprehensive data-driven approach, the world\u2019s most endangered mammals may soon be eaten into extinction.\u201d<\/p>\n How can lemurs make a recovery?<\/p>\n