Why is Aye aye endangered?
Aye aye is one native animal of Madagascar. Classified under the order of primates, aye aye is considered to be a lemure. As the world’s largest nocturnal primate, aye aye is physically characterized by a combination of a rodent-like teeth and middle fingers that are thin enough to penetrate through narrow holes to pull grubs from trees. This interesting type of animal was first discovered by a French naturalist named Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton in the island of Madasgascar. Although the origin of its name has many inconsistent derivations, certain hypothetical theory has claimed that aye aye is a simpe cry to warn others of this animal’s presence, which were once considered to be a bad omen. As a natural habitat of the forest, aye ayes most often dwell in canopy areas, where there are found to be normally asleep during day time. Aye ayes survive in consumption of nuts, grubs, fruits, nectar, seeds, and fungi but in cases where they found no source of food at all, they steal from vegetations and plantations where coconuts, mangoes, sugar cane, lychees and eggs can be found.
One significant controversy that continues to revolve around aye aye is their existence. There have been speculations that aye ayes are nearing the stage of extinction. Tracing its history, aye aye was said to have been extinct 1933. It was later rediscovered in 1957 in the islands near Madagascar. However, today, aye aye is considered to be extinct. The reason for its extinction is the massive destruction of its habitat making it unable to thrive and automatically adjust to another kind of environment. Aye aye’s extinction is primarily due to the gradual loss of habitat. Another reason for its extinction is because of the superstition that aye aye is an evil animal.
Leave a Reply