S11. E9: Dr. Patricia Wright: For the Love of Lemurs

“He called me into his office and he said, ‘you see that picture above my desk?’ I said, ‘yes.’ It kind of looked like an animal that reminded me of a squirrel. He said, ‘that is a lemur that we think is extinct in the wild. If you can, please go to Madagascar and find out if it's extinct or not.’” – Patricia Wright


Dr. Patricia Wright is an anthropologist, a conservationist, and a professor at Stony Brook University in New York, and she's probably the world's leading expert on lemurs.

There are over 100 species of lemurs, which are prosimians - a type of primate. Lemurs only exist on the island of Madagascar.

Patricia has been spending half of her time, six months a year, in Madagascar studying lemurs since the 1980s. It was during this time that she discovered a new species of lemur, the Golden Bamboo Lemur. She also established Ranomafana National Park. It is almost an understatement to say that Patricia is a trailblazer — she has done the impossible again and again.

Her story is astounding.

In gratitude,

Elizabeth Novogratz




Become a Species Unite member

You can listen to our podcast via our website or you can subscribe and listen on Apple, Spotify, or Google Play. If you enjoy listening to the Species Unite podcast, we’d love to hear from you! You can rate and review via Apple Podcast here. If you support our mission to change the narrative toward a world of co-existence, we would love for you to make a donation or become an official Species Unite member!

As always, thank you for tuning in - we truly believe that stories have the power to change the way the world treats animals.

Previous
Previous

S11. E10: Suzanne Lee: BIOFABRICATE

Next
Next

S11. E8: Danielle Celermajer: Summertime: Reflections on a Vanishing Future