Geography
,, Q. What is Madagascar most famous for? A. Madagascar is famous for indigenous flora and fauna. Tourists from all over the world come to see the true wonders of nature on the island.
Q. What is the rarest animal in Madagascar? A. Madagascar Pochard is the rarest duck on the island and in the world. It has a population of below 100. So don’t eat it. " (Alan Durant, 2021)
Almost all of the northeastern part of the island belongs to the Masoala National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is Madagascar’s largest nature reserve, remarkably rich in terms of biodiversity: 50% of the island’s plant species and more than 50% of its animal species (mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians) live here.
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“Ninety percent of the animal and plant species living on Madagascar are endemic, meaning they live only on this island. The ecosystem of Madagascar developed after the island broke away from the African continent, and the animals there began to develop differently to those on the mainland. Unfortunately, a large proportion of these unique animals are endangered, as the people who arrived and multiplied on the island have gradually burned the forests, clearing an area which could be cultivated for around ten years before the nutrients were depleted. Then they would move on and burn a new area. If you’re interested in the wildlife of this island, I recommend the film which David Attenborough made on the animals of Madagascar. On the island itself you’ll only see them in zoos, or after long and difficult journeys – and only then if you’re lucky. This is because, in most cases, few individuals survive from each species, they are often secretive, and many are also nocturnal. Still, you should see plenty of chameleons, and it’s great to watch them change color in seconds.It’s possible to catch them, but there isn’t much point. If you pick one up it might try to bite you, or give a menacing hiss, but after that it will wait until you put it down, and it can continue its slow hunt for bugs.
The other star of Madagascar is the baobab tree. These look as though they have been placed into the ground the wrong way up, and locals believe the devil placed the baobab upside down. These trees can, if left undisturbed, live for up to 800 years, and their delicious fruit is rich in vitamins. Locals have at last begun to realize that these bring more income as a tourist attraction than can be made by cutting them down, and so have started to take care of them. Previously, baobab trunks were used to make hollowed-out fishing canoes.
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,, Madagascar’ No not the kid's cartoon, the place. It's hidden off the east coast of Africa the child of restless tectonic plates and somewhat ignored by people until about 10000 years or so ago.
The local flora and fauna would, I’m pretty sure, have been much happier if people had ignored Madagascar permanently and there is definitely a case for treating it with more kindness than we have so far.
Madagascar is big I mean really big and weird, very weird. Weirdly enough the people who colonized it are supposed to have originated from the East Indies, presumably getting there in pretty basic boats.
People do things like row the Atlantic to the applause of the feeble-minded twelve thousand years ago people were crossing the Indian Ocean as if they were on the local bus, a local bus that you sometimes had to get out and push.
Lemurs, baobabs, rainforest, desert, hiking, and diving: Madagascar is a dream destination for outdoors enthusiasts – half the fun is getting to all these incredible attractions, the other half is getting back in one piece.
Madagascar is an interesting mix of a place. In modern times the French colonized, not to the benefit of the local population but definitely to the benefit of the local food.
Madagascar must have seemed a weird place to the first colonists even in a past time when weird wasn’t as rationed as it is now. A great many of the animals are endangered due to the impact of people a pattern not unfamiliar worldwide. Since the arrival of permanent human settlers around 2,350 years ago, Madagascar has lost more than 90 percent of its original forest.[Despite this Madagascar remains a paradise for wildlife lovers Madagascar possesses a vast number of different species – many found nowhere else.
Among its resident animals are more than half the world’s chameleons and dozens of species of lemur.” (WIKI) Perhaps the strangest animal is the aye lemur, whose long middle finger helps it find grubs hiding inside trees. Don’t let it point its middle finger at you or you will die, according to local superstition. They are considered bringers of bad luck or even death.
Locals sometimes kill them because of this I suggest just taking pictures but you will need a flash as they are nocturnal. I deny any responsibility for death and destruction resulting from this advice. I am drawing a veil over the giant rats that can jump three feet into the air but forewarned is forearmed.
If your knowledge of Madagascar is solely from the cartoon film don’t be surprised, there are no lions, giraffes, or hippo, but half of the world Chameleons live there. . I always wanted to see what would happen if a Chameleon walked across a chessboard. I have watched them change color in a more regular manner and that is impressive enough.
There is a tiny Chamelion that is small enough to perch on your finger. They don’t fall off even when you joggle them because it tickles and makes you laugh. Lots of the animals seem to hark back to earlier forms. I wanted but didn’t manage to see a Coelacanth which is a fish thought to be an extinct form around 66 million years ago but rediscovered in 1938 in the Mozambique Channel. It has fins like primitive legs, sort of an early missing link for fishes that moved onto land. As you can imagine they are pretty rare and I wasn’t lucky.
Madagascar is also great if you like looking at birds. I especially like the Long Tailed Ground Roller which, as the name suggests, has a long tail but doesn’t roll on the ground. Having said that it doesn’t seem very keen on flying. There aren’t a lot of them, maybe their aversion to aviation makes them easier to catch? There are also all types of plants, huge octopus trees that look like spiky loo brushes, the baobab trees resembling overfilled hot water bottles with sticks of celery pushed in the top, and loads of other stuff. (Alan Durant, 2021)
