At a workshop in Madagascar for the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission (IUCN), a group of 60 wildlife experts declared the lemur the "the most endangered of any group of vertebrates."
Most people know lemurs from the Dreamworks hit movie franchise Madagascar, but many don't know that the island nation is the primate's natural habitat. When you take into account that there are only 18 of particular species of lemur still alive, the problem becomes more clear.
So, what's causing the drop off? Loss of habitat and rampant hunting. According to the IUCN, "political uncertainty has increased poverty and accelerated illegal logging," combined with lemur hunting is becoming "a more serious threat than previously imagined."
The members of the IUCN are currently working to devise some solutions.
[via CNN]
