Madagascar Wildlife Diary
Madagascar – the first thought that comes to my mind is the Lemurs, Chameleons and the Baobabs! While Madagascar has a lot to offer in terms of non-wildlife experiences as well, it is definitely a wild-life adventure first!
Wildlife travel in Africa brings up the image of the quintessential safari that has come to define wildlife adventures in East and South Africa. Madagascar wildlife is anything but that! There are no safaris, no Big 5 (none of them are found here!), no cats – for that matter no big predators (with the exception of the cat-mongoose like Fossa) and there are no large animals – the largest being the Indri Indri Lemur or the Fossa (both max at 8.5 kgs). All your wildlife sightings would be through walks in the wild (ranging from the rain forests to the semi-arid regions) – preferably more of night walks, if you want to watch the lemurs many of which are nocturnal.
First a small preamble on the amazing biodiversity of this large island. Of the roughly 200,000 known species on the island, nearly 150,000 are endemic meaning that they are found nowhere else on earth! Unique to the island are more than 50 types of lemurs, 99 percent of its frog species, and 36 genera of birds. Madagascar houses 100 percent of the world’s lemurs, half of its chameleon species and 6 percent of its frogs!
So, if you observe and note any specie (Flora and fauna), it is highly probable that it is endemic, and you will not find anywhere else in the world. It is this amazing feature that attracts wildlife lovers and naturalists, and this fuelled my enthusiasm to visit Madagascar!
I am an amateur birder and hence my observations are dominated by bird sightings. Of course, I have been incredibly lucky with my lemur sightings (nearly 17 different species in as many days!) as well. If my interest had extended to fauna as well – maybe my observation list would have been even richer.
A summary of my observations (detailed list and some photographs follow): In a non-wildlife focussed holiday, I managed to identify around 142 species of flora and fauna of which an incredible number of species nearly 70% was either endemic to Madagascar or the region around (including the proximate other islands). Birds dominated my observation list with nearly 81 species – about 55 of them were lifers (and mostly endemic to the region) – meaning I have observed them for the first time in my life. Lemurs were the next surprise with my managing to spot nearly 17 species (of the total 100 odd on the island).
A couple of observations stand out due to their uniqueness – The Giant jumping rat and the Western Red Forest Rat. Both are endangered species and each one is restricted only to a particular forest region – the Giant Jumping rat (Hypogeomys antimena) in the Kirindy Forest reserve (private) and the Western Red Forest Rat (Nesomys lambertoni) in the Tsingy de Bemaraha National park. The Giant jumping rat or the votsotsa, in fact, is the only extant species in the genus!
Another amazing observation (with the help of my fantastic guide in Isalo) was the beautifully camouflaged Stick insects and Praying mantis! Check out the pictures below and check if you can actually see them!
Of course, a wildlife focussed trip would have turned up even more observations – but then that is for some other day!
List of observations with some photographs! Hope you enjoy going through it!
Lemurs
(Scroll right to see more..1 – 19)
Birds
(Scroll right to see more..1 – 72)
Chameleons, Lizards, Geckos and Swifts
(Scroll right to see more..1 – 15)
Others
(Scroll right to see more..1 – 20)
Different species of Lemurs seen in Madagascar (Pictures as seen above)
- Grey Bamboo Lemur – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Common Brown Lemur – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Indri – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Diademed Shifaka – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Black & White Ruffed Lemur – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Red Ruffed Lemur – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Red Fronted Lemur Female – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Red Fronted Brown Lemur Male – Tsiribihina River
- Verreaux’s Sifaka – Zombitse National Park
- Decken’s Sifaka – Bekopaka
- Red Tailed Sportive Lemur – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Grey Mouse Lemur – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Fork Marked Lemur – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Ring Tailed Lemur – Isalo National Park
- Zombitse Sportive Lemur – Zombitse National Park
- Crowned Lemur – Amber National Park
- Crowned Lemur – Ankarana Reserve
- Sanford’s Brown Lemur – Amber National Park
- Ankarana Sportive Lemur – Ankarana Reserve
Different species of Birds seen in Madagascar (Pictures as seen above)
- Crossley’s Vanga – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- African Stonechat – Ankarana Reserve
- Black Crowned Night Heron – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Black Heron – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Black Kite – Tsiribihina River
- Black Winged Stilt – Tsiribihina River
- Blue Coua – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Bulbul – Amber National Park
- Cattle Egret – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Cattle Egret – Tsiribihina River
- Common Greenshank – Tsiribihina River
- Common Jery – Isalo National Park
- Common Moorhen – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Common Newtonia – Bekopaka
- Common Sandpiper – Tsiribihina River
- Coquerel’s Coua – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Frances’s Sparrow Hawk Female – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Great Egret – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Greater Vasa Parrot – Ankarana Reserve
- Green Sunbird Female – Diego Suarez
- Grey Heron – Tsiribihina River
- Hoopoe – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Hottentot Teal – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Humblot’s Heron – Tsiribihina River
- Knob Billed Duck – Bekopaka
- Little Egret – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Long Billed Tetraka (Greenbul) – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Madagascar Buzzard – Isalo National Park
- Madagascar Kestrel – Isalo National Park
- Madagascar Lark – Isalo National Park
- Madagascar Patridge – Isalo National Park
- Madagascar Wagtail
- Magpie Robin – Zombitse National Park
- Mascarene Martin – Ankarana Reserve
- Namaqua Dove – Diego Suarez
- Olive Beeeater– Tsiribihina River
- Paradise Flycatcher – Zombitse National Park
- Paradise Flycatcher – Ankarana Reserve
- Hook Billed Vanga – Amber National Park
- Crested Drongo – Diego Suarez
- Pied Crow – Tsiribihina River
- Pratincole – Bekopaka
- Purple Heron – Tsiribihina River
- Red Billed Teal – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Redtailed Vanga – Zombitse National Park
- Ruddy Turnstone – Diego Suarez
- Souimanga Sunbird – Amber National Park
- Striated Heron – Bekopaka
- Striated Heron – Tsiribihina River
- Whimbrel – Diego Suarez
- White Browed Owl – Kirindy Private Reserve
- White Browed Owl – Zombitse National Park
- White Faced Whistling Duck – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- White Fronted Plover – Diego Suarez
- Squacco Heron – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Squacco Heron & Black Crowned Juveniles – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Malachite Kingfisher – Bekopaka
- Malachite Kingfisher – Tsiribihina River
- Kestrel – Bekopaka
- Brushwarbler – Bekopaka
- Coucal – Ankarana Reserve
- Madagascar Button Quail – Ankarana Reserve
- Madagascar Green Sunbird – Isalo National Park
- Crested Coua – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Giant Coua – Zombitse National Park
- Grey Headed Lovebird Male – Red Tsingy
- Cuckoo Roller – Zombitse National Park
- Lesser Cuckoo – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Nelicourvi Weaver – Amber National Park
- Sakalava Weaver – Amber National Park
- Broad Billed Roller – Ankarana Reserve
- Sickle Billed Vanga – Ankarana Reserve
Different species of Chameleons, Lizards, Geckos and Swifts seen in Madagascar (Pictures as seen above)
- Parsons Chameleon – Amber National Park
- Panther Chameleon Male – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Jewelled Chameleon Female – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Oustalet’s Chameleon – Tsiribihina River
- Oustalet’s Chameleon – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Montagne d’Ambre Leaf Chameleon – Amber National Park
- Mossy Leaf Tail Gecko – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Satanic Leaf Tail Gecko – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Common Leaf Tail Tecko – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Lined Day Gecko – Tsarasaotra Lake, Antananarivo
- Cuvier’s Madagascar Swift – Bekopaka
- Western Plated Lizard – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Merrem’s Madagascar Swift – Isalo National Park
- Dumeril’s Madgascar Swift – Isalo National Park
- Giant Day Gecko – Ankarana Reserve
Other species seen in Madagascar (Pictures as seen above)
- Barons Mantella – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Brilliant Blue Butterfly – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Tomato Frog Male – Andasibe Matandia National Park
- Ring Tailed Vontsira – Amber National Park
- Northern Bokiboky – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Forest Nymph – Isalo National Park
- Cream Lined Swallowtail – Amber National Park
- Madagascar Leopard – Amber National Park
- Rainbow Milkweed Locust (Phymateus Saxosus) – Isalo National Park
- Flatid Leaf Bug – Ankarana Reserve
- Flatid Leaf Bug Nymph (Phromnia Rosea) – Isalo National Park
- Lady Bug – Isalo National Park
- Dropwing-Dragonfly – Isalo National Park
- Snout Bug – Isalo National Park
- Drosera (Carnivorous Plant) – Isalo National Park
- Fossa – Kirindy Private Reserve
- Madagascar Spider (Nephila Madagascarensis) – Isalo National Park
- Millipede – Amber National Park
- Praying Mantis (Green) – Isalo National Park
- Scorpion (Opisthacanthus Madagascariensis) – Isalo National Park
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