Indri indri

There are only 400 indri left in the wild and they cannot survive in captivity. These images come from 12 hours of tracking these beautiful animals and show how difficult the conditions are to photograph these animals. Below are some thoughts and observations...
A sound clip of them wailing from a few meters away coming soon!

My first few days in Madagascar have been trying to track and photograph one of this countries most iconic species; the wailing Indri. A Teddy bear of a lemur, with a white bald patch on is head and very short tai, make it a unique subject to see. However, it's call is what really what sets it apart. Standing 6 meters from one as it starts it's vocalisation is the most amazing sensation one can have in a rain forest. The trees reverberate and your ears sing as the wails and hoots bounce around you in stereo. It is THE sound of Madagascar and one I will never forget. But to add to that conflicting cocktail that is Madagascar ('There can be only one'...), there is a catch. From my bungalow in the forest lodge where we stayed, I was woken up to the sound of indri calling in the forest opposite us. A more beautiful way to wake up I don't know…



On the second day returning to the lodge, a bush fire was raging through that exact same forest. "Slash and burn", says my driver. I didn't need to be reminded. There are only 400 odd indri remaining in the wild, and here we were watching some of their prime habitat burn away. My senses were overloaded with a feeling of complete uselessness: My mind numb, my heart screaming. My driver jolts me back to reality, adding, "the people, they need to grow the crops". My thoughts return to that cocktail again: the poorest people in the world live here. If ever there was a cause for conflict between man and nature, this is it. The flambé on top of that very strong cocktail.