Danni with local guides Jean Honere and Charlie

MFG is an international non-profit organisation comprised of zoos, aquariums, botanic gardens and universities with the goal of protecting and preserving Madagascar’s biodiversity.

Flying in to Madagascar

Madagascar is the 4^th largest island in the world and about 90% of Madagascar’s wildlife is found no where else on the planet, however extreme poverty and the resulting deforestation endangers the unique biodiversity of this island.

MFG with the support of its member institutions, like Wellington Zoo is committed to;

• Protecting animals in the wild and their native habitats through the management and re-forestation of Betampona Natural Reserve.
• Saving endangered species like the Black and White-ruffed Lemur through breed and release programs. Ivoloina Zoological Park where I was based, houses endangered species and also cares for animals seized from the illegal wildlife trade.
• Education! Providing sustainable farming practice training through the Ivoloina Conservation Training Centre (ICTC) located at Ivoloina Zoological Park and giving the children of the rural communities access to education through the establishment of the Saturday School Program.

Danni in Madagascar with the Toamasina office staff

Thanks to Wellington Zoo’s conservation staff grant, I was given the opportunity to work in the field assisting our conservation partner. I stayed on site at Ivoloina Zoological Park to conduct an ecological fauna study to establish what native species were present in the forests of the park and identify any introduced species that may be inside the park boundary.

Tiny frog spotted during an evening survey

This study involved surveying 2 transects of forest, recording what species were observed and data such as the time, location and habitat in which they were found in. This data will assist MFG to put in place conservation programs designed to target the removal of any introduced species to protect and preserve the native fauna. 

Danni looking for wildlife

Two local guides assisted me with this work; Jean Honere a conservation agent from Betampona Natural Reserve, who travelled down to assist me with amphibian identifications (there are hundreds of frog species in Madagascar) and Charlie a guide here at the zoo, who was also an amazing bird spotter! Each day we did a morning and an afternoon/evening survey and in between I combined all our observation notes and photos onto record sheets. 

Local guide, Jean Honere recording data

The topography of the forest was incredibly steep with a really dense understory and as it is the end of the wet season in Madagascar, the ground was also wet and slippery from the almost daily rainfall. Lucky, I like a challenge!

Danni encountered many steep slopes during surveying

Who needs fancy hiking poles when the forest can provide one for free!

We observed 50 different species in the park, from tiny nocturnal frogs, bright green Madagascan Day Geckos, the famous Lemurs, a grand total of 1 Chameleon and a host of birdlife. Two Day Geckos lived in my hut and I had a giant snail that guarded my back door (seriously it was HUGE). 

Danni spotted this tiny Chameleon

The primary concern for the native fauna at Ivoloina is the introduction of the Asian Common Toad that is slowly making its way towards the forest of Ivoloina and will have catastrophic consequences for the survival of hundreds of species if it reaches Ivoloina Zoological Park. Thankfully we did not seen any trace of this species!

Well that's it for now, make sure you keep an eye out for my next blog where I talk about some of the incredible highlights of my conservation adventure! 

Madagascar is home to some pretty tiny frog species!

White-fronted Brown Lemurs

Lesser Bamboo Lemur

Danni with the staff from Ivoloina