By Laurie King

Why am I doing this? It's 3:26 in the afternoon (just 4 minutes till the 3:30 scan) and I'm chasing a group of six red-fronted brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufous) through the rainforest: off the trail, down a steep, vine-covered slope, across a tributary of the Namorona River, along the river bank, back across the river, through the vines, back up the steep slope. (I can't help but think they're toying with me.)

Crashing Through the Undergrowth
It's hot, I'm tired, sweating and thirsty, and my glasses are fogging up. (Note to self: get contacts before ever venturing anywhere near a rainforest again. Between the heat from my body and the humidity, it's impossible to see through glasses.) I will never travel as fast as a lemur. Our local Malagasy guides, on the other hand, are experts at tracking these animals as they leap from vine to vine and scamper up and down trees. My guide today is Dominique, a short brown man who moves quickly and easily through the rainforest. He seems completely at home here--and very different from us large, white people who tend to crash through the undergrowth and trip over vines. Following along right after him, I imagine that I pick up some of his gracefulness and agility; it's so easy to walk with him through the forest. Later, I realize it's easy because Dominique discretely pushes lianas out of my way, points out thorns and treacherous holes in the forest floor, and cuts an occasional vine. When we cross the river, he steps carefully on dry stones so I'll know where step, even though he's wearing waterproof rubber boots. (I'm not.)

Results of Clearcutting
The lemurs we're following are almost totally arboreal, eating, sleeping, and travelling in the treetops. If trees are removed--either by selective logging or by clearcutting--resulting gaps in the forest canopy restrict the lemurs' territory and their movement within their territory. This is true even if primary forest has been replaced by secondary growth; it's old-growth trees--ones that have been around for hundreds of years--that are intertwined with the vines and lianas that are so important for arboreal locomotion. Forest degradation is also a problem because these tree-dwelling animals don't have adaptive strategies for dealing with predators on the ground.

Lemur Behavior
At 3:30 I use my Rite-in-the-Rain pen to record the adult female lemur's behavior in my special waterproof field data book. What is she doing (feeding, grooming, resting, traveling)? What kind of tree is she in, and how high? If she's feeding, is it on ripe fruit, unripe fruit, seeds, flowers, leaves, or young leaves? What species? Our Malagasy guides are essential here: they know the trees and fruits, and are good at estimating height. (Whereas I find myself wondering how many men stacked on top of one an other would equal the height of the lemurs' feeding spot--five tall men? six tall men?--and then doubling the number to convert to meters.)

We also record the focal lemur's nearest (lemur) neighbor, and distance to nearest neighbor, which will eventually help researchers understand more about the relationship between diet and social structure. We set off at 7:30 this morning, and I've been recording data every ten minutes since we found the lemurs at 9:20.

Why am I doing this? Because the lemurs are fun to watch. Because they're endangered, and collecting ecological data is an important first step in helping to preserve their habitat. Because the rainforest is indescribably beautiful, and I want it to stay that way. And because I'm beginning to care about the people who live here, hoping they can continue to live here.