Madagascar has "only" 258 bird species, although 115 of these are endemic (with 36 endemic genera, Madagascar has more unique genera than any other African country. Madagascar also possesses five endemic families of birds).
Madagascar was once home to giant land birds, the largest of which weighed over 1,100 pounds (500 kg) and stood ten feet (3m) tall. Elephant birds (Aepyornis) were driven to extinction in the past couple of hundred years by human hunting, introduced species, and habitat loss. You can still see remnants of their existence in their giant eggs which are reassembled and offered for sale in parts of the country. It is estimated that the 20-pound egg of Aepyornis maximus could make an omelette to feed 150 people (Brown 1978).
Almost all pictures on this site were taken with a Konica Minolta
Recent articles
Madagascar fires mapped with Google Earth in real-time Every year as much as one-third of Madagascar, one of the planet's most biodiverse islands, goes up in flames. Now a new tool gives scientists the ability to monitor and track Madagascar's fires in real-time through the Internet.
UNESCO lists rainforest parks of Madagascar as Heritage sites (7/2/2007) UNESCO has listed six rainforest parks in Madagascar as World Heritage sites. The announcement comes as the Indian Ocean island nation has moved aggressively to protect its biologically-rich forests from further degradation.
Conservation is saving lemurs and helping people in Madagascar (5/7/2007) Madagascar, an island nation that lies off the coast of southeastern Africa, has long been famous for its unique and diverse species of wildlife, especially lemurs--primates found nowhere else on the planet. In recent years, the island country has also become world-renowned for conservation efforts that are succeeding in spite of extraordinary pressures from a poor population that relies heavily on forest burning for basic subsistence. A large part of this success is due to the early efforts of Patricia Wright, a primatologist who has been working in the country for more than 20 years. Wright led the effort to launch the country's leading protected area and helped Madagascar become a leading global example of conservation despite its economic adversity.
