Page 18 - Patricia Wright News Today

Its full of protein and its full of cyanide. >> anthony: is the cyanide not a problem for them? >> 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 of it? just dew? >> patricia: ah, careful. >> darren: oh dont touch. >> patricia: hows your finger feeling? >> darren: it felt a little sharp, but like a...

>> 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 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. >> pat...

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 dark a worldview, judging from his films, anyway, as th...

>> 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 the value of these e...

Something for everyone is awesome. find your awesome with the xfinity stream app. more to stream to every screen. >> 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 agricultu...

Can you see him? hello. >> the area provides essential habitat for the golden bamboo lemur. a species that dr. wright discovered here in 1986 and the greater bamboo lemur, previously thought extinct. >> theres only 500 of these in the world in the whole wild. >> slash and burn agriculture. look at it. beautiful. its so nice. >> hes taking a leak right now. >> i cant watch. >> hopefully thats not an editorial statement. ♪ >> look. this is the kind of bamboo shoot that the lemurs love. its full ...

The director of the national park, wheres your village that you lived in when you were a little girl? thats on one side of the park. ♪ [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> the ancestors presumably okay with the land transfer. its time to party. ♪ dr. wright worked hard to establish ranomafana park with the stated aim of protecting the absolutely unique flora and fauna here and reducing human

♪ dr. wright worked hard to establish the park with the stated aim of protecting the absolutely unique flora and fauna here and reducing human pressures on the area. this, however, is the face of human pressure, just so were clear. >> okay. take care, guys. >> were right on the edge of the park.

And burn agriculture thats existed here since this island was first settled and the imperative of charcoal as heat source, 90% of the forests and jungles that cover madagascar are gone. ♪ >> anything? >> not yet. theyre very elusive. theyre very difficult to see. >> thanks largely to the work of dr. patricia wright, over 4,000 hectares of forest have been set

>> anything? >> not yet. theyre very elusive. theyre very difficult to see. >> thanks largely to the work of dr. patricia wright, over 40,000 hectares of forest have been set aside and protected with the creation of 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 -- jurassic merch? >> there he is. hes right next to me. can you see him?