Page 17 - Patricia Wright News Today

To conservation. it wont be cut down. ♪ >> man: thats the zebu. >> anthony: before the tanala land can officially become a part of the park the gods, the ancestors, the ancestors, somebody must be appeased. and that, as it often does, means something must die. seen this a lot? >> patricia: i usually dont go when this is happening. >> darren: wow. >> anthony: for someone with as dark a worldview, judging from his films, anyway, as the newly vegetarian mr. aronofsky, he

>> patricia: they can tolerate all kinds of cyanide. the cyanide comes straight through in the, uh, poop. >> darren: do they know how they get it through their system? >> patricia: were working on that. >> darren: okay. what is the dew on the outside >> patricia: ah, careful. >> darren: oh dont touch. >> patricia: hows your finger feeling? >> darren: it felt a little sharp, but like a fuzzy sharpness, but then it didnt -- >> patricia: yeah, a fuzzy sharpness. you just wait a bit. >> anthony: yea...

>> patricia: oh, hes really right next to me. hello. >> anthony: the area provides essential habitat for the golden bamboo lemur. a species dr. wright discovered here in 1986. and the greater bamboo lemur, previously thought extinct. >> patricia: theres only 500 of these in the wild in the whole world. >> anthony: wow, really? whats the biggest pressure on the population? >> patricia: slash and burn agriculture. some places theyre hunted. >> darren: here, no, this guy. >> patricia: oh. he is, oh...

Really woke up the world to the fact that there was a place called madagascar, although many people think that it doesnt really exist. >> darren: so what do you think happens? how hard is it to maintain the forest? >> patricia: its incredibly hard, you know? weve been working with the villagers around the park and i think they really do understand the value of these extraordinary lemurs and the value of the forest. the economic value of tourism is tremendous for this country. unlimited network. ...

An editorial statement. >> darren: yeah. [ laughter ] >> patricia: look, this is the kind of bamboo shoot that the lemurs love. its full of protein and its full of cyanide. >> anthony: is the cyanide not a >> patricia: they can tolerate all kinds ofyanide. the cyanide comes straight through in the, uh, poop. >> darren: do they know how they get it through their system? >> patricia: were working on that. >> darren: okay. what is the dew on the outside of it? just dew? >> patricia: ah, careful. >>...

One right above you. >> anthony: has the film "madagascar" been good for the lemur business? >> darren: there you go. >> patricia: i think the cartoon really woke up the world to the fact that there was a place called madagascar, although many people think that it doesnt really exist. >> darren: so what do you think happens? how hard is it to maintain the forest? >> patricia: its incredibly hard, you know? weve been working with the villagers around the park and i think they really do understand...

As a heat source, 90% of the forest and jungles that covered madagascar are gone. >> darren: anything? >> patricia: not yet. theyre very elusive. theyre very difficult to see. >> anthony: thanks largely to the work of dr. patricia wright over 40,000 hectares of forest have been set aside and protected for the creation of

Combined with the most wifi hotspots. its a new kind of network. xfinity mobile. >> anthony: the boundaries of ranomafana park protect what they can of madagascars rapidly diminishing rain forest. but its not all about lemurs and rare species and unspoiled beautiful places. >> patricia: these are the tanala people. these are the people of the forest. this is the fifth time theyve had to change the location of the village because they just slash and burn agriculture.

This ceremony today is a ceremony to celebrate the fact the 17 people from the village are going to donate their land to conservation. it wont be cut down. ♪ >> man: thats the zebu. >> anthony: before the tanala land can officially become a part of the park the gods, the ancestors, the ancestors, somebody must be appeased. and that, as it often does, means something must die. seen this a lot? >> patricia: i usually dont go when this is happening. >> darren: wow. >> anthony: for someone with as...

Ranomafana national park. her recently completed research station is a state of the art complex that reminds one of that cynical spielberg franchise. what was it? jurassic, uh -- jurassic merch? >> patricia: here he is, hes right next to me, can you see him? >> darren: right here. >> anthony: oh wow. >> patricia: oh, hes really right next to me. hello. >> anthony: the area provides essential habitat for the golden bamboo lemur. a species dr. wright discovered here in 1986. and the greater bamboo...