World famous geneticists Tom Gilbert and Kristine Bohmann from the University of Copenhagen / Copenhagen Zoo are soon going to be working in forests managed by Mitsinjo. This will be the first site in Madagascar to test their innovative approach for producing evidence for the occurrence of very rare and elusive animals.

Ubiquituous in Malagasy rainforests, leeches are perfect ambush predators with a preference for vertebrate blood. Cashed blood can be retrieved from the leeches’ crops and tested for vertebrate DNA.

Using leeches, Tom Gilbert and his colleagues were able to identify the DNA of very rare and elusive mammals in Vietnam such as Chinese Ferret-badger Melogale moschata and the Annamite Stripped Rabbit Nesolagus timminsi. These are difficult to detect and identify with either camera trapping or other conventional methods. National Geographic have recently joined highlighted their extraordinary work.

 
In the upcoming months, we will test if this methodology can be a useful tool for tracking down rare any elusive animals in the Malagasy rainforests as well. We especially hope that this method could shed light both on the assemblage of carnivores and the occurrence of critically endangered species such as the Greater Bamboo Lemur Prolemur simus or indeed other rare lemur species.

Broad-striped Mongoose Galidictis fasciata

Does the Broad-striped Mongoose
Galidictis fasciata exist in the
forests of Andasibe?

Mitsinjo has received accounts by villagers of Broad-striped Mongoose Galidictis fasciata in the forests around Andasibe, but no confirmed sightings have ever been recorded. Perhaps this exciting new research might bring an answer to the mystery.

Read more about the exciting research.