Report
from the Field: Betampona Reserve
December 2001
The third release group are continuing to thrive and have been joined
by a fifth individual this month. Unfortunately we are not completely
sure of the identity of this animal. It is a male and we suspect
it is the male who has been observed in the Sahabefoza region, who
may well be "Dimby", one of the offspring of Zuben'Ubi
and Praesepe. It is an absolute priority that this animal be captured
and genetic material collected to enable us to discover if he is
from captive stock or the resident population.
A
further three nights of nocturnal survey work were carried out
this month. The absolute highlight was the sighting of Aye-aye
(Daubentonia madagascariensis) at Betampona. Two were sighted
together at 250m on the Piste Sahabefoza on the 19th. We were
able to remain with them for about 20 minutes and I hopefully
got some decent photographs. Also two specimens of a black and
brown banded species of Stenophis snake were observed.
The
group are showing natural behaviour by beginning to travel further
as the temperature warms up. Their daily ranging is identical
to that recorded for the wild Varecia in 1999. All are
exhibiting good skills in the canopy, but as usual occasional
episodes of travel on the ground were observed. The group were
once again very cohesive this month, in contrast to the splitting
observed in November. The 3 males exhibited high levels of play.
The
group exchanged calls with Fara and Rahona to the north and Kalo,
Trema and Jabiba to the south throughout the month. On the 7 December
an uncollared male Varecia was observed closely following
the group. On the 10th he was still around -- he was attacked
by Kintana but Hale and the twin males tolerated his close presence.
He continued to follow the group daily, often being attacked by
each of the releasees. Finally on 17 December he was observed
travelling and feeding alone with Hale. The males continued to
occasionally attack him, but by the end of the month they were
frequently observed playing and grooming together. We suspect
that this is the young male observed in the Sahabefoza region
usually in the company of Mirana and Kotomavo. Thus this is the
same male who could be "Dimby", the son of Zuben'Ubi
and Praesepe (born October. 1999). We all strongly feel that this
is the case, but only genetic testing will be able to confirm
this.
Despite
the losses it has been demonstrated that captive-bred Varecia
can adapt to the majority of the challenges of life in the wild.
Furthermore we have recorded successful reproduction and raising
of infants, plus integration with the wild population. In the
coming years there is good reason to be optimistic that Sarph,
Fara and Hale will all reproduce with wild Varecia. There
is also every chance that Kintana, Tany and Masoandro will integrate
with the many wild Varecia that currently live at the borders
of their territory. The future is bright, and barring disaster
we can anticipate that the released Varecia will make a
substantial genetic contribution to the Betampona population over
the next 10 years.
Adam
Britt, 3 January 2002
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