Golden-crowned Sifaka - Human Interactions - Conservation

Conservation

Because studies have shown that the golden-crowned sifaka are most likely to be found in large forest fragments (greater than 1,000 ha (3.9 sq mi)), the species is thought to be sensitive to forest fragmentation and degradation. However, since it has been found around gold mining camps and degraded forests, it is not restricted to undisturbed forests and appears to tolerate human activity. Regardless, with its low population, highly restricted range, and badly fragmented habitat, the prospect for survival for the golden-crowned sifaka is considered bleak. For these reasons, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) added it to its list of the 25 most endangered primates in 1997. Previously, in 1992, the IUCN's Species Survival Commission (IUCN/SSC) Primate Specialist Group also assigned the species its highest priority rating. As of its 2008 assessment, the golden-crowned sifaka was downgraded from Critically Endangered to Endangered on the IUCN Red List. In its four previous assessments, it was listed as Critically Endangered in 1996 and 2000 and Endangered in 1990 and 1994.

The area inhabited by the golden-crowned sifaka is also an important agricultural and economical resource for the human population. Suggested conservation action aimed at protecting this species and its habitat has focused on offering varying degrees of protection to forest fragments in the region, allowing human activity and resource extraction in areas that have less conservation potential while strictly protecting areas critical to the species' survival. In 2002, none of the forested areas that the golden-crowned sifaka inhabits were part of a formally protected national park or reserve. A conservation study from 1989 called for the creation of a national park that includes the forest of Binara as well as the dry forests to the north of Daraina. A more recent study from 2002 proposed a network of protected forest areas including areas outside of the village of Daraina, forests north of the Monambato River, and the northern forests that constitute the species' northern reservoir. In 2005, Fanamby, a Malagasy non-governmental organization (NGO), teamed up with Conservation International to create a 20,000-hectare (77 sq mi) protected area that both Association Fanamby and the Ministry of Water and Forests manage. As of 2008, only ten forest patches that could support viable populations remained, according to the IUCN.

Only one captive population of golden-crowned sifakas has been represented in a zoological collection. Building on a successful record of maintaining a viable captive Verreaux's sifaka population, the Duke Lemur Center (DLC) in Durham, North Carolina, requested and obtained permission from the government of Madagascar to capture and export this (then) unknown species for captive breeding. Plans were also made to establish a captive breeding program at the Ivoloina Forestry Station, now known as Parc Ivoloina. In November 1987, during the same expedition that resulted in the formal description of the species, two males and two females were caught and measured. Five others were also caught, but were released because they were juvenile males. In July 1988, a golden-crowned sifaka was born in captivity at the DLC. However, the captive population was small and not viable for long-term breeding, and captive sifakas have proven difficult to maintain due to their specialized dietary needs. The last captive individual passed away in 2008. Despite the loss of its small colony after 20 years, DLC believes that establishment of a captive population for conservation-oriented captive breeding purposes could provide an important second level of protection, particularly if habitat protection measures are unsuccessful.