Lemurs on the brink of extinction: why 95% of species are threatened – and how the meat trade is accelerating their decline

For more than 50 million years, lemurs have lived exclusively on Madagascar, where they evolved in complete isolation into more than 100 species known today – from the tiny mouse lemur to the imposing indri. Nowhere else on any continent or island do they exist in the wild. Yet in their only natural habitat, they are now facing an unprecedented crisis: lemurs have become the most threatened group of vertebrates on Earth.

According to the IUCN Red List, almost 95% of all lemur species are considered threatened. Three of the original eight lemur families have already disappeared entirely: the koala lemurs, the sloth lemurs such as Palaeopropithecus ingens, and the baboon lemurs – wiped out by habitat loss and intensive hunting.

What does the IUCN Red List say about lemurs?

The IUCN Red List makes the scale of the crisis clear: 105 of the 111 assessed lemur species are considered threatened (CR, EN, VU).

• Among the most affected species are 32 lemurs classified as critically endangered (CR), including the Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi).
• 45 species are listed as endangered (EN), including well-known species such as the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta).
• A further 28 species fall into the category vulnerable (VU), such as the common brown lemur (Eulemur fulvus).
• The Goodman’s mouse lemur (Microcebus lehilahytsara) is listed as near threatened (NT).
• Only 2 species – the reddish-gray mouse lemur (Microcebus griseorufus) and the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) – are currently considered least concern (LC), although their populations are also declining.
• 2 recently described species, the Groves’ dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus grovesi, 2017) and the Nosy Boraha mouse lemur (Microcebus boraha, 2016), are listed as Data Deficient (DD) due to a lack of data, but the IUCN also reports declining population trends for both.

The figures show that lemurs are on the brink of mass extinction. Many populations are shrinking so rapidly that, without immediate conservation measures, irreversible losses are imminent. Several species also appear in the international IUCN Top 25 of the world’s most endangered primates.

A new driver of extinction: the urban lemur meat trade

In addition to well-known threats such as habitat loss, illegal logging and traditional hunting, a new study (2025) published in Conservation Letters highlights a previously underestimated factor: the illegal and increasingly urban trade in lemur meat.

The four-year investigation shows that nearly 13,000 lemurs are killed and consumed every year, despite hunting having been banned since 1960. Demand comes primarily from urban areas, where lemur meat is considered a “luxury product”. The authors, led by Cortni Borgerson, warn that this development could drive several threatened species to the brink of extinction within just a few years.

How large is the urban lemur meat trade?

The researchers interviewed 2,600 people in 17 major cities, including hunters, buyers, traders and restaurant staff. In addition, 2,573 restaurants were surveyed and trade chains were reconstructed from the plate back to the forests.

The result: the trade is far larger, more organised and more hidden than previously assumed. Although lemur meat appears on menus in more than a third of the cities, restaurants represent only a small part of the business. 94.5% of the trade takes place through covert direct networks between hunters, intermediaries and wealthy consumers.

Because nearly all lemur species are threatened, this consumption massively accelerates their population decline. Without targeted measures to reduce demand and create alternative sources of income, the situation will continue to worsen.

Which species are particularly affected?

During the period from 2023 to 2024, the study documented the sale of 1,265 lemurs. Large, meat-rich species are especially targeted:

• The large ruffed lemurs (Varecia) are hunted most intensively due to their high meat yield. Both species are critically endangered (CR).
• True lemurs (Eulemur) are widespread and therefore frequent victims of hunting. All twelve species are (critically) endangered or critically endangered.
• The indri (Indri indri) and the sifakas (Propithecus) also provide large amounts of meat and are therefore deliberately hunted. Eight of the nine sifaka species, as well as the indri, are critically endangered.
• The six species of bamboo lemurs (Hapalemur) and the greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus) are also regularly found in trade. Many are critically endangered (CR) or vulnerable (VU).

The meat trade therefore targets precisely those species that are already declining most rapidly.

Why do people buy and sell lemur meat?

The study shows that the lemur meat trade is driven by an interplay of economic, cultural and social factors. The researchers identified six main reasons:

1. Livelihood security:
For many hunters, selling lemurs is a vital source of income, especially in regions with few job opportunities. Hunting brings quick cash and is often more reliable than other activities.

2. Demand for delicacies:
Urban consumers often regard lemur meat as a delicacy or luxury meat. It is associated with social status and special occasions.

3. Perceived health benefits:
Some consumers attribute revitalising effects to lemur meat – beliefs deeply rooted in local traditions. The study quotes buyers directly: “I eat it because I know it keeps you young,” said one buyer. “That’s what people secretly tell each other in the forest – it keeps you young because of what the animals eat.” Another described lemur meat as “the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted” and added: “Once you’ve eaten it, you can’t stop.”

4. Social networks:
The trade operates almost exclusively through personal contacts. Recommendations and expectations within social circles can further motivate hunters and buyers.

5. Low risk:
Because inspections are rare, those involved fear few legal consequences.

6. Lack of alternatives:
According to the study, many respondents would give up hunting if they had stable economic alternatives – but these are lacking in many regions.

Not only the meat trade threatens lemurs

The threats facing Madagascar’s lemurs extend far beyond the illegal lemur meat trade. At the centre is the massive loss of their habitat. Lemurs are entirely dependent on intact forests, yet more than half of Madagascar’s forest cover has already disappeared, and the remainder is increasingly fragmented. The main driver is everyday use by the local population: slash-and-burn agriculture, wood harvesting for household needs, illegal charcoal production, or felling individual trees to generate short-term income.

Unlike in many other countries, these forest losses are not primarily caused by industrial agriculture or large corporations, but by the everyday survival strategies of individual families. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world, and for many people the forest is the only resource that promises immediate income. Trees are cleared to create fields, obtain fuelwood or sell timber – not out of indifference to nature, but because alternatives are lacking. As only about one third of the population has access to electricity, cooking is almost everywhere done with firewood or charcoal, further driving deforestation. Even in protected areas, illegal logging continues because the survival of one’s own family often takes precedence over conservation laws.

The country’s political instability further exacerbates the situation. Changing governments, economic crises and weak authorities mean that controls are rare, illegal logging is scarcely prosecuted, and protected areas are inadequately managed. At the same time, pressure on forests continues to grow as people migrate from regions affected by droughts or crop failures into more intact forest areas in search of new resources.

In addition to habitat destruction, hunting still plays a role: in some regions, lemurs are captured as pets, hunted for local markets or traded as “luxury meat”. Climate change further intensifies the crisis: droughts, floods and crop failures push people even more strongly into activities that endanger forests and wildlife.

All of these factors make Madagascar one of the most challenging places for successful nature and species conservation. Many projects fail not because of a lack of knowledge, but because they do not sufficiently take social realities into account. As long as people have no secure alternatives to the forest, deforestation will continue. Effective protection can only work if it addresses the living conditions of the population.

Nature and species conservation in Madagascar: what really works?

Effective conservation in Madagascar succeeds where it addresses people’s needs and offers them genuine alternatives. Projects that take this approach show that protecting forests and lemurs can indeed be combined with a better everyday life for local communities.

Particularly successful are initiatives that create new, sustainable sources of income. In several communities in the southwest of the country, families were able to completely replace charcoal production with the cultivation of vegetables. Supported by organisations such as WWF, they received seeds, training and access to regional markets. The result is doubly positive: people earn more money, and pressure on forests decreases significantly. Similarly successful are programmes that promote handicraft products, introduce organic farming or enable small-scale ecotourism.

A second key element is the strengthening of local responsibility. Many villages have their own forest committees and employ paid forest guards – known as polisin’ala – who patrol regularly and report illegal activities. Where communities themselves decide on rules, controls and sanctions, acceptance of conservation is often higher and impacts more sustainable. Successful protected areas are characterised above all by the fact that local people are not merely expected to “participate”, but actually have a say over their land.

Education is also crucial. Environmental education in schools and local awareness campaigns increase long-term understanding of why forests and their wildlife must be protected. At the same time, demand for bushmeat can only decline if consumers are informed about health risks, ecological consequences and the threatened status of many species. Measures such as stricter controls on illegal firearms complement these approaches and can further reduce hunting, as many lemurs are killed with unregistered guns.

Sustainable success also depends on a stable political environment. Political crises hinder controls, obstruct research and cause tourism to collapse, which is often an important source of income for conservation projects. International support and long-term funding are therefore essential, as many protected areas are too large to be adequately monitored using local resources alone.

A success story: Amoron’i Onilahy

How successful such approaches can be is demonstrated by the protected area Amoron’i Onilahy in southwestern Madagascar. There, several villages jointly manage a vast and ecologically diverse area. Over the years, alternative livelihoods were created, local rangers trained, and the forest placed under community responsibility. In 2024, WWF reported no new forest loss for the first time, and populations of sifakas and ring-tailed lemurs are recovering. The example clearly shows: when people directly benefit from protection, even in difficult regions a trend towards recovery can emerge.

Empowering people – saving lemurs

Nature and species conservation in Madagascar can only succeed if it takes people’s living realities as seriously as the protection of animals. Madagascar’s forests are not remote refuges; they lie at the heart of everyday human landscapes. Anyone who wants to save lemurs must therefore also find ways to reduce poverty, create alternatives to forest clearing, and enable economic security beyond hunting and poaching.

Lemurs are not disappearing because people want to harm them, but primarily because of human hardship and a lack of prospects. And this is where effective conservation begins: strengthen livelihoods, stabilise forests, save lemurs.

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Sources

• Borgerson, C., Razafindrapaoly, B. N., & Rasolofoniaina, B. J. (2025). Madagascar’s urban lemur meat trade. Conservation Letters, 18(6). https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13163
• Jones, B. (2025, November 11). The world’s lemurs are going extinct. This is the only way to save them. Vox. https://www.vox.com/climate/467647/lemurs-madagascar-endangered-deforestation
• Lemur Conservation Network. (n.d.). The IUCN Red List and the Conservation Status of Lemurs. https://www.lemurconservationnetwork.org/learn/the-iucn-red-list-and-lemurs/