In addition to the blue-eyed black lemur I mentioned yesterday, the golden-crowned sifaka (Propithecus tattersalli) was another lemur I got the chance to see at the Duke Lemur Center. Like many other lemurs, this species is under threat from the development of agriculture and habitat fragmentation, although this species faces a further threat. Gold has been discovered in golden-crowned lemur habitat, mining operations becoming a further threat to the species. Such activities have resulted in this species being critically endangered, and it was sad to think that the lemur I saw at the Duke facility may represent a species that will become extinct in my lifetime.
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