Africa Roofing UK was delighted to play its part in helping Chester Zoo to re-create a unique African landscape for a brand new habitat.
The ambitious plan to build a 6000 square metre dry rainforest is part of a conservation programme to protect some of the most endangered animals from the incredible island of Madagascar.
Africa Roofing supplied the Makuti & Bali thatch used to roof the entrance and exit to the enclosure, the lemur house, and the fossa viewing areas.
Saving the Lemurs
Lemurs are at a real risk of extinction with rainforests disappearing and the threat of being hunted.
This project is the zoo’s first ever primate walk-through experience giving visitors the chance to get up close to ring-tailed, black, crowned and critically endangered red ruffed lemurs and learn of their plight.
Within weeks of moving in the lemurs showed their approval of their new home by rewarding the zoo’s keepers with a baby boom. This is great news for the breeding programme and an amazing result for all those involved in the building of this new attraction.
Things you didn’t know about Lemurs
- There are 100 species of lemurs and more being discovered every day.
- The girls are in charge. Lemur societies are almost all matriarchal.
- They occasionally get into “stink fights”. They rub their tails in their own scents and then shake it at their opponent.
- They have opposable thumbs and are very clever. Lemurs have the ability to learn patterns, organize sequences from memory and perform simple arithmetic.
What can you do to help save the lemurs?
Next time you go shopping look for the FSC logo (a tree with a tick). It indicates that the product has been made from sustainable forests and you are helping to ensure our forests are alive for generations to come.
Also, when buying vanilla ice-cream or chocolate look out for the rainforest alliance logo. The seal features a frog for a very good reason. Frogs are indicator species, meaning that they are a symbol of environmental health, and they are found on every continent except Antarctica.
You can also support Chester Zoo’s work as a wildlife conservation charity. They have teams of conservationists working in Madagascar right now to try and preserve areas of forest which many species of lemur live. You can find out more and donate, here: https://www.chesterzoo.org/news/conservation-communities-the-future-for-madagascars-lemurs/