World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/banteng): Banteng — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The banteng (Bos javanicus) is an Endangered wild cattle of Southeast Asia; the first Endangered species cloned successfully in 2003, it continues to decline as oil palm, pulpwood, mining and hunting remove forest across Sundaland.

## Introduction
The banteng is a wild cattle of Southeast Asia — a forest browser and grazer that once ranged from India through mainland Southeast Asia to Borneo and Java. Bulls are dark brown to black with white stockings and rump patches; cows are reddish-brown. Herds use forest openings and glades, retreating to cover when disturbed.

In 2003 a banteng calf was born from cloned embryos — the first Endangered species successfully cloned at the time. The experiment proved somatic-cell nuclear transfer could work for rare mammals; it did not replace wild populations. The clone lived in captivity; wild banteng continued to lose ground to hunting, forest conversion for oil palm and pulpwood, and mining access across Sundaland.

WARN's Pyrenean ibex guide at /wildlife-guides/extinct-animals/pyrenean-ibex/ covers another cloning story with a different outcome — brief revival of an extinct subspecies whose last clone died minutes after birth. Banteng cloning succeeded technically; conservation still depends on forest and enforcement, not laboratory reproduction alone.

## Takeaway
The banteng is a wild cattle of Southeast Asian forest, not a domestic ox — though Bali cattle may descend from banteng domestication.

## Takeaway
In 2003 scientists produced the first successful clone of an Endangered species using banteng embryos — a technical milestone, not a wild recovery.

## Takeaway
Wild herds are Endangered, declining through hunting and habitat loss as oil palm, pulpwood and mining convert forest across Borneo and Java.

## Takeaway
Bulls are dark with white 'stockings'; cows are redder — sexual dimorphism typical of wild bovids.

## Takeaway
Domestic Bali cattle on Bali may represent ancient banteng domestication, complicating pure wild genetics on Java.

## Takeaway
Compare WARN's Pyrenean ibex guide for a cloning attempt on an extinct subspecies — success measured in minutes, not populations.

## Wild cattle of the forest edge
Banteng occupy a niche between closed forest and open grassland — grazing and browsing in glades, visiting salt licks, retreating to tree cover when disturbed. Herds are typically small, led by a dominant cow with a attendant bull. They are not savannah animals in the African sense; they need forest structure and water, which is why plantation monocultures exclude them entirely.

Three subspecies are recognised: the mainland form, the Bornean banteng and the Java banteng. Each has lost range independently as national boundaries did not protect forest. Java retains domestic Bali cattle possibly derived from banteng; wild Java banteng are critically scarce.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/banteng): Banteng — wildlife guide.

## The 2003 clone
Researchers cloned a banteng using somatic-cell nuclear transfer — the same broad method used for Dolly the sheep — implanting embryos into domestic cattle surrogates. A calf was born in 2003, demonstrating that endangered mammal cloning was feasible.

The clone did not rebuild wild populations. Cloning produces individuals one at a time, expensive and legally complex, without addressing hunting, habitat or genetic diversity in situ. WARN's guide to the Pyrenean ibex at /wildlife-guides/extinct-animals/pyrenean-ibex/ describes the parallel case: a clone born in 2003 to a species already extinct in the wild, surviving only minutes. Banteng cloning worked longer; neither approach substitutes for forest remaining and trade controlled.

## Oil palm, pulpwood and mining across Sundaland
Borneo and Sumatra have converted millions of hectares to oil palm and pulpwood plantations. Mining for coal, bauxite and other minerals cuts haul roads through remaining forest. Banteng lose glades, salt-lick access and movement corridors simultaneously.

Hunting supplies bushmeat markets and trophies; snares kill indiscriminately. Plantation workers and infrastructure expand access. An Endangered listing describes trend, not safety — herds persist in some protected areas while disappearing from provinces converted wholesale to plantation.

## Ungulates and the hoofed-animal frame
Banteng belong among Southeast Asia's wild ungulates — alongside sambar, muntjac and the chevrotain mouse-deer covered in a separate WARN guide. They share artiodactyl biology: cloven hooves, ruminant digestion, herd structure shaped by predators now largely absent from their range.

Hoofed-animal conservation in Sundaland is plantation conservation in practice. A banteng herd needs forest edge, water and freedom from snares — none of which oil palm estates provide. Cloning headlines fade; land use persists.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education, including where biotechnology headlines outran field conservation. Banteng cloning in 2003 was real science; wild banteng still need forest not converted for oil palm, pulpwood and mining.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/banteng): Banteng — wildlife guide.

## Was the banteng the first endangered species cloned?
Yes — a banteng calf born in 2003 was the first successful clone of an Endangered species. It did not restore wild populations. WARN's Pyrenean ibex guide covers a 2003 clone of an extinct subspecies that survived only minutes.

## What is a banteng?
A wild cattle of Southeast Asian forest, related to domestic cattle and possibly ancestral to Bali cattle. Bulls are dark with white stockings; the species is Endangered.

## Where do banteng live?
Remnant populations on Borneo, Java and scattered mainland sites — range greatly reduced. They use forest glades and edges rather than open plains.

## Why are banteng endangered?
Hunting, snares and forest conversion for oil palm, pulpwood and mining across Sundaland. Protected areas hold some herds; plantation landscapes hold none.

## Are banteng the same as Bali cattle?
Bali cattle may descend from banteng domesticated on Java. Wild banteng and domestic Bali cattle are related but not identical; wild genetics are increasingly scarce.

## What do banteng / tembadaus eat?
The banteng (Bos javanicus) is an Endangered wild cattle of Southeast Asia; the first Endangered species cloned successfully in 2003, it continues to decline as oil palm, pulpwood, mining and hunting remove forest across Sundaland. The guide's ecology sections give the prey or forage detail behind that summary.

## Are banteng / tembadaus dangerous?
Banteng / Tembadaus are not generally dangerous to people. The banteng (Bos javanicus) is an Endangered wild cattle of Southeast Asia; the first Endangered species cloned successfully in 2003, it continues to decline as oil palm, pulpwood, mining and hunting remove forest across Sundaland. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do banteng / tembadaus live?
A precise wild lifespan for banteng / tembadaus is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The banteng (Bos javanicus) is an Endangered wild cattle of Southeast Asia; the first Endangered species cloned successfully in 2003, it continues to decline as oil palm, pulpwood, mining and hunting remove forest across Sundaland. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a banteng / tembadau?
A Banteng / Tembadau is about About 1.5 m in large bulls. The banteng (Bos javanicus) is an Endangered wild cattle of Southeast Asia; the first Endangered species cloned successfully in 2003, it continues to decline as oil palm, pulpwood, mining and hunting remove forest across Sundaland. Conservation status: Endangered.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chevrotain): Chevrotain — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
Chevrotains are tiny Tragulidae hoofed mammals called mouse-deer but not related to deer; the silver-backed chevrotain was rediscovered in Vietnam in 2019 on camera trap after decades without confirmed records.

## Introduction
Chevrotains are called mouse-deer, which captures their size but not their taxonomy. They belong to the family Tragulidae — an ancient lineage of hoofed mammals separate from true deer in Cervidae. Adults may weigh under two kilograms, stand barely thirty centimetres at the shoulder, and carry tusk-like upper canines especially prominent in males.

In 2019 camera traps in Vietnam captured the silver-backed chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor) — a species last recorded in the 1990s and feared lost to hunting and habitat change. The rediscovery made headlines; it did not mean the species was secure. The same forests face snaring, timber extraction, and conversion pressure across mainland Southeast Asia.

For comparison with true deer, WARN's deer guide covers cervids — antlered animals in a different family. Chevrotains share a herbivorous, secretive understorey niche but not deer biology: no antlers, different dentition, and a digestive system closer to pigs than to red deer or roe deer.

## Takeaway
Chevrotains are mouse-deer in name only — they belong to Tragulidae, not the deer family Cervidae.

## Takeaway
Males bear tusk-like upper canines used in fights, unlike antlered deer.

## Takeaway
The silver-backed chevrotain was rediscovered in Vietnam in 2019 after going unrecorded for decades — proof of how little we know about understorey mammals.

## Takeaway
Snaring and bushmeat hunting remove chevrotains across Southeast Asia; oil palm and pulpwood conversion removes understorey habitat.

## Takeaway
Several species are Data Deficient or Endangered with poor survey data — absence of records often means absence of search, not absence of animals.

## Takeaway
WARN's deer guide at /wildlife-guides/deer/ covers true deer for comparison — antlers, Cervidae biology and different conservation framing.

## Not a deer
True deer — red deer, roe deer, muntjac in the strict modern sense — belong to Cervidae, with antlers or small antlers in males and a ruminant lifestyle scaled to their size. Chevrotains are tragulids: no antlers, elongated canines, simpler stomachs closer to non-ruminant artiodactyls, and a body plan miniaturised for dense understorey.

The confusion is linguistic. 'Mouse-deer' describes appearance — tiny, deer-like legs, cautious gait — not genealogy. WARN's deer guide explains cervid identification and ecology; chevrotains need their own frame because snaring campaigns and habitat advice differ when the animal weighs less than two kilograms and hides by day.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chevrotain): Chevrotain — wildlife guide.

## The silver-backed rediscovery
Tragulus versicolor was known from specimens collected in the early twentieth century, then effectively vanished from scientific record. Vietnam's forests continued to be logged, snared and fragmented. In 2019 a team deployed camera traps in coastal lowland forest and obtained the first confirmed images in decades.

Rediscovery is not recovery. The species' range and population remain unknown; the IUCN lists it Data Deficient or with heightened concern depending on assessment date. The event shows how understorey mammals can persist unseen while trade and conversion continue — and how quickly they can disappear when snares are indiscriminate.

## Snares, trade and plantation conversion
Mainland and Sundaland forests face industrial snaring for bushmeat markets — wire loops that catch everything walking a game trail, including chevrotains. Oil palm and pulpwood replace forest with monoculture; mining opens access. Wildlife trade in Southeast Asia is not only rhino horn and ivory; local bushmeat networks supply urban demand.

Chevrotains are too small for trophy trade but perfect snare size. Forest that looks green from above may be empty at ground level where snare lines run. Protection requires anti-snaring patrols and demand reduction, not only protected-area boundaries on maps.

## Ancient ungulates in modern landscapes
Tragulids are among the most primitive living hoofed mammals — a lineage that diverged early from the branch that became deer, cattle and antelope. They survived by staying small and secretive. That strategy fails when every forest path carries a snare.

On Borneo and Sumatra, lesser and greater mouse-deer species share understorey with banteng and bearded pigs at different scales of the same converted landscape. Chevrotain conservation is ungulate conservation at the smallest scale — and among the least visible.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for animals hidden in the understorey. Chevrotains are not deer — and the 2019 silver-backed rediscovery shows both how much remains unknown and how fast snaring and plantation conversion can erase it.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chevrotain): Chevrotain — wildlife guide.

## Is a mouse-deer a deer?
No. Chevrotains are in the family Tragulidae, separate from true deer (Cervidae). WARN's deer guide at /wildlife-guides/deer/ covers real deer.

## What was rediscovered in Vietnam in 2019?
The silver-backed chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor), filmed on camera trap after decades without confirmed records.

## Why do chevrotains have fangs?
Males have elongated upper canines used in territorial fights — the tragulid substitute for antlers.

## How big is a chevrotain?
Some species weigh under two kilograms and stand around thirty centimetres at the shoulder — rabbit-sized hoofed mammals.

## What threatens chevrotains?
Snaring for bushmeat, forest conversion for oil palm and pulpwood, and hunting access via logging and mining roads across Southeast Asia.

## Where do chevrotains live?
Dense tropical forest understorey from India through mainland Southeast Asia to Borneo and Sumatra — secretive, mainly nocturnal or crepuscular.

## Are mouse-deer / chevrotains dangerous?
Mouse-Deer / Chevrotains are not generally dangerous to people. Chevrotains are tiny Tragulidae hoofed mammals called mouse-deer but not related to deer; the silver-backed chevrotain was rediscovered in Vietnam in 2019 on camera trap after decades without confirmed records. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/paradise-flying-snake): Paradise Flying Snake — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The paradise flying snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) glides between trees by flattening its body into a concave aerofoil and undulating mid-air; it is Least Concern but loses connectivity as Sundaland forest converts for oil palm, pulpwood and mining.

## Introduction
The paradise flying snake is a colubrid of Sundaland rainforest that moves between trees by gliding — not flying. It climbs high, launches from a branch, spreads its ribs to flatten the body into a concave cross-section, and undulates in the air to stabilise and steer. The profile behaves like a wing; the motion is active, not a passive fall.

This is one of several species in the genus Chrysopelea, all capable of controlled glides of twenty metres or more. The paradise tree snake is among the most studied: black background, green spots, slightly larger than its relatives, and a glide trajectory that can include mild upward correction at the start if launch speed is high enough.

Forest fragmentation from oil palm, pulpwood and mining breaks the canopy bridges these snakes rely on. They are not traded like hornbill casques, but they are vulnerable to the same landscape — continuous mid-storey for launch and landing, with nowhere to go when gaps exceed glide range.

## Takeaway
Paradise flying snakes glide by spreading ribs to flatten the body into a concave wing and undulating to steer.

## Takeaway
Launch is from height; glides of twenty metres or more connect trees without descending to the ground.

## Takeaway
They are mildly venomous colubrids — rear-fanged, dangerous mainly to small prey, not a major medical threat to humans.

## Takeaway
Canopy continuity matters: oil palm, pulpwood and mining fragmentation strand snakes that cannot cross large cleared gaps.

## Takeaway
Several Chrysopelea species glide; paradise tree snake is among the best documented biomechanically.

## Takeaway
Gliding evolved independently in snakes, squirrels and colugos — convergent solutions to forest gaps.

## How a snake becomes a wing
A paradise flying snake climbs using keeled scales and muscular loops, then selects a launch point with a drop beneath. At jump, it throws its body outward and spreads its ribs laterally, transforming a circular cross-section into a concave underside — a shape that generates lift at speed. Mid-air undulation — waves passing along the body — adjusts pitch and yaw.

High-speed video shows the snake is not falling flat; it is controlling trajectory well enough to land on a target trunk lower than the launch point but far horizontally. The biomechanics interest engineers as much as herpetologists: a flexible, undulating wing unlike any aircraft design.

## Ecology of a canopy colubrid
Chrysopelea paradisi hunts lizards and bats in the forest mid-storey. Rear fangs deliver mild venom to small prey; bites to humans are rare and usually minor. Activity is diurnal; the green-spotted pattern breaks outline against dappled leaves.

Life in the canopy minimises ground predation but requires connectivity. A snake that glides twenty metres cannot cross a plantation block half a kilometre wide. Remaining forest patches become islands; gene flow stops even when local density looks healthy.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/paradise-flying-snake): Paradise Flying Snake — wildlife guide.

## Plantations, mining and fragmented Sundaland
Lowland forest conversion for oil palm and pulpwood on Borneo and Sumatra removes the continuous mid-storey paradise flying snakes use. Mining and haul roads add linear gaps. The species is listed Least Concern because it remains widespread in surviving forest, but widespread is not secure when conversion rate exceeds reserve creation.

Southeast Asia's wildlife trade focuses on mammals and birds; gliding snakes appear occasionally in the pet trade but are not a primary driver. Habitat shape is the long-term pressure — the same pattern affecting colugos and hornbills at different canopy levels.

## Snakes that glide versus snakes that climb
WARN's snake type pages group colubrids, pythons and vipers for identification; flying snakes belong among colubrid oddities — harmless to most humans, specialised for a niche other snakes solve by staying in one tree or descending to ground. Gliding is the colubrid answer to gaps.

Understanding paradise flying snakes clarifies that 'flying' in biology usually means controlled glide, whether in snakes, colugos or frogs. Sundaland holds all three; plantation conversion tests all three the same way — by measuring gap width against glide distance.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for reptiles whose biology surprises searchers. Paradise flying snakes glide on concave bodies — a biomechanical marvel that still needs continuous forest not carved into oil palm, pulpwood and mining estates.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/paradise-flying-snake): Paradise Flying Snake — wildlife guide.

## Can paradise flying snakes fly?
No. They glide by flattening the body and undulating mid-air. They cannot gain altitude freely but can steer to a landing tree.

## How far can they glide?
Typically twenty metres or more horizontally, from a launch height in the canopy. Gap width beyond that range is uncrossable.

## Are paradise flying snakes venomous?
Mildly — rear-fanged colubrids with venom effective on small prey. Bites to humans are uncommon and usually not serious.

## Where do they live?
Lowland and hill rainforest in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo and Sumatra — wherever contiguous canopy allows gliding.

## How do they flatten their bodies?
By spreading ribs laterally, creating a concave underside that acts as an aerofoil during launch and glide.

## What do paradise tree snakes eat?
Paradise Tree Snakes eat Colubrid — Rear-fanged; mildly venomous to small prey. The paradise flying snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) glides between trees by flattening its body into a concave aerofoil and undulating mid-air; it is Least Concern but loses connectivity as Sundaland forest converts for oil palm, pulpwood and mining.

## Are paradise tree snakes dangerous?
Paradise Tree Snakes are not generally dangerous to people. The paradise flying snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) glides between trees by flattening its body into a concave aerofoil and undulating mid-air; it is Least Concern but loses connectivity as Sundaland forest converts for oil palm, pulpwood and mining. Give wild individuals space and do not corner or handle them.

## How long do paradise tree snakes live?
A precise wild lifespan for paradise tree snakes is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The paradise flying snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) glides between trees by flattening its body into a concave aerofoil and undulating mid-air; it is Least Concern but loses connectivity as Sundaland forest converts for oil palm, pulpwood and mining. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a paradise tree snake?
A Paradise Tree Snake is about About 1–1.2 m. The paradise flying snake (Chrysopelea paradisi) glides between trees by flattening its body into a concave aerofoil and undulating mid-air; it is Least Concern but loses connectivity as Sundaland forest converts for oil palm, pulpwood and mining. Conservation status: Least Concern.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/atlas-moth): Atlas Moth — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The atlas moth (Attacus atlas) is one of the world's largest moths, with snake-head wingtips and no functional adult mouthparts — it lives one to two weeks on larval fat while Sundaland forest conversion removes host trees.

## Introduction
The atlas moth is among the largest lepidopterans by wing area — wingspan up to twenty-four centimetres or more, marked with rusty browns, pinks and translucent panels. The tips of the forewings bear patterns that resemble snake heads, a defensive illusion when the moth shakes at rest.

Adult atlas moths have no functional mouthparts. They do not eat. The entire adult life — typically one to two weeks — runs on fat stored from larval feeding. Reproduction, not foraging, is the adult agenda: females emit pheromones; males, with feathery antennae tuned to detect them over kilometres, fly to mate. Then they die.

Caterpillars feed on a range of trees and shrubs — citrus, privet, willow and tropical hosts including those cleared for oil palm and pulpwood. WARN's comet moth guide at /wildlife-guides/comet-moth covers Madagascar's Argema mittrei — another giant saturniid with dramatic wingtips and a short adult stage, on an island facing its own forest losses. Atlas moths share the giant-moth template; Sundaland's conversion removes host trees across Borneo and Sumatra.

## Takeaway
Atlas moths are among the largest moths by wing area, with wingspans exceeding twenty centimetres.

## Takeaway
Adults lack functional mouthparts and do not eat — they survive one to two weeks on fat stored as caterpillars.

## Takeaway
Wingtips mimic snake heads, startling predators when the moth moves.

## Takeaway
Caterpillars feed on tree and shrub leaves; oil palm and pulpwood conversion removes host plants across Sundaland.

## Takeaway
Males locate females by pheromone using large feathery antennae — adult life is reproduction only.

## Takeaway
WARN's comet moth guide at /wildlife-guides/comet-moth covers Madagascar's Argema mittrei — a parallel giant saturniid with similar short-lived adult biology.

## Adult life without eating
Saturniid moths including Attacus atlas emerge from pupae with vestigial mouthparts — no proboscis, no feeding. Energy for flight, mating and egg-laying comes entirely from larval stores. A large caterpillar eating voraciously for weeks buys a short adult window.

That strategy works when emergence synchronises with mates and suitable egg-laying sites. It fails when host trees are removed between generations. The moth is not pollinator-dependent as an adult; it is host-plant-dependent as a caterpillar.

## Snake-head wingtips
The forewing tips bear scale patterns resembling cobra heads — dark patches with 'eye' spots. When a resting moth drops and flutters, the illusion startles birds long enough to escape. It is mimicry without close mimicry of any single species — good enough to buy a second.

Madagascar's comet moth, covered in WARN's guide at /wildlife-guides/comet-moth, uses a similar wingtip strategy on a different continent. Giant saturniids converge on short adult lives, bold wing patterns and caterpillar bulk — evolution's template for big moths.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/atlas-moth): Atlas Moth — wildlife guide.

## Host trees and plantation landscapes
Atlas moth caterpillars accept several host genera — tropical trees and shrubs cleared when lowland forest becomes oil palm or pulpwood monoculture. Plantations are not moth habitat; edge trees may host individuals but not populations at scale.

Mining and infrastructure scatter remnant forest. Wildlife trade in Southeast Asia focuses on vertebrates; atlas moths appear in tourist displays and occasionally in cocoons for silk, but conversion is the structural threat. Not Evaluated on the Red List reflects survey gaps, not abundance in a converted landscape.

## Giant moths in the invertebrate frame
Atlas moths belong among the largest insects people search by name — alongside birdwing butterflies and, in Madagascar, comet moths. WARN groups moths with butterflies and beetles on invertebrate type pages because public interest clusters on size and appearance, while conservation hinges on larval host plants.

Protecting atlas moths means protecting mixed forest with host trees — not charismatic-adult campaigns. The adult you photograph lives two weeks and never eats; the caterpillar that mattered ate leaves on trees now replaced by plantation rows on Borneo and Sumatra.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for invertebrates whose adult form is famous and whose larval needs are ignored. Atlas moths live two weeks without eating — their conservation is host-forest conservation amid oil palm and pulpwood expansion.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/atlas-moth): Atlas Moth — wildlife guide.

## Do atlas moths eat as adults?
No. Adults have no functional mouthparts and live one to two weeks on fat stored as caterpillars.

## How big is an atlas moth?
Wingspan can exceed twenty-four centimetres — among the largest moths by wing area.

## Why do atlas moth wings look like snakes?
Wingtip patterns mimic snake heads to startle predators — defensive mimicry when the moth moves.

## Where do atlas moths live?
Tropical and subtropical Asia including Borneo, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula — wherever host trees remain.

## What do atlas moth caterpillars eat?
Leaves of various trees and shrubs — hosts removed by forest conversion for oil palm and pulpwood.

## How is the atlas moth related to the comet moth?
Both are giant saturniids with short non-feeding adult stages and dramatic wing patterns. WARN's comet moth guide at /wildlife-guides/comet-moth covers Madagascar's Argema mittrei.

## Are atlas moths dangerous?
Atlas moths are harmless to people. Adults have no functional mouthparts and do not bite or sting. Their entire adult life — typically one to two weeks — runs on fat stored from larval feeding, devoted to reproduction before they die.

## How long do atlas moths live?
Adult atlas moths live about one to two weeks according to this guide's quickFacts and stats. They cannot eat as adults; females emit pheromones and males with feathery antennae fly kilometres to mate, then die. Caterpillars feed on trees cleared for oil palm and pulpwood across Sundaland.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/sunda-clouded-leopard): Sunda Clouded Leopard — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) is a Vulnerable tree-dwelling cat of Borneo and Sumatra, a separate species since 2006, with the longest canines relative to skull among living cats; oil palm, pulpwood, mining and snaring drive losses.

## Introduction
The Sunda clouded leopard is a forest cat of Borneo and Sumatra recognised as a separate species from the mainland clouded leopard in 2006 — split on genetics, coat pattern and skull shape. It is smaller than a leopard but built for trees, with short flexible legs, large paws, a long tail for balance and the longest canine teeth relative to skull size of any living cat.

Those canines invite comparison with extinct sabre-toothed cats — WARN's saber-toothed cat guide at /wildlife-guides/extinct-animals/saber-toothed-cat/ covers Smilodon and its true sabre-tooth skull, a different order of magnitude. The Sunda clouded leopard is a modern felid pushing canine proportions to their living limit, not a Pleistocene specialist.

It is Vulnerable. Lowland forest on Borneo and Sumatra converts for oil palm and pulpwood; mining and snaring add mortality. Clouded leopards are secretive and poorly counted — Vulnerable may understate pressure where forest is gone.

## Takeaway
The Sunda clouded leopard was split from the mainland clouded leopard as a separate species in 2006 on genetic and morphological evidence.

## Takeaway
It has the longest canine teeth relative to skull size of any living cat — convergent with sabre-tooths in proportion, not in mechanism.

## Takeaway
WARN's saber-toothed cat guide at /wildlife-guides/extinct-animals/saber-toothed-cat/ covers true sabre-toothed cats for comparison.

## Takeaway
It is Vulnerable, threatened by oil palm and pulpwood conversion, mining access and snaring across Borneo and Sumatra.

## Takeaway
Arboreal anatomy — large paws, long tail, flexible ankles — suits continuous forest canopy, not plantation.

## Takeaway
Density estimates are poor; secretive cats in disappearing forest are often assessed on range loss before population data exist.

## Split on Borneo and Sumatra
Until 2006, clouded leopards were treated as one species across mainland Asia and the islands. Genetic and coat-pattern work separated Neofelis nebulosa on the mainland from Neofelis diardi on Borneo and Sumatra. The Sunda form has smaller cloud markings and a different skull profile.

Species status matters for conservation accounting. Borneo and Sumatra lose forest independently; a single range map for 'clouded leopard' obscured island-specific decline. The split aligned biology with the geography of oil palm and pulpwood expansion.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/sunda-clouded-leopard): Sunda Clouded Leopard — wildlife guide.

## Canines and the sabre-tooth comparison
Sunda clouded leopards kill with a bite to the neck or skull, using canines long relative to their head but still within modern felid jaw mechanics. True sabre-toothed cats — Smilodon and relatives covered in WARN's guide at /wildlife-guides/extinct-animals/saber-toothed-cat/ — had canines so long they required specialised skull hinges and likely throat-shearing kills.

The comparison is proportional, not functional. Living clouded leopards are the closest analogue to 'small sabre-tooths' in today's forests — a hook for public interest that should lead to forest protection, not trophy trade. Canine length did not save Pleistocene sabre-tooths from prey loss and competition; it will not save clouded leopards from plantation conversion.

## Oil palm, pulpwood, mining and snares
Borneo's lowland forest — primary clouded leopard habitat — has been replaced extensively by oil palm and pulpwood estates. Sumatra shows the same pattern. Mining concessions and roads fragment what remains. Snares set for bushmeat catch cats indiscriminately.

Wildlife trade in Southeast Asia includes cat skins and bones for traditional markets, though clouded leopards are less high-profile than tigers. The dominant driver remains land use: a Vulnerable cat cannot persist in monoculture. Protected areas hold populations where enforcement works; elsewhere the species is functionally absent despite forest fragments on satellite maps.

## Big cats of a different scale
Clouded leopards sit on big-cat type pages because public search treats them as small leopards — they are Neofelis, distinct from Panthera. Sunda clouded leopards are island specialists with island-specific threats.

Camera-trap surveys occasionally capture them in remaining forest — proof of persistence, not proof of safety. Each image from an oil-palm-surrounded reserve is a data point on borrowed time unless connectivity and anti-snaring keep pace with conversion outside the boundary.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education linking living predators to extinct parallels without conflating them. Sunda clouded leopards carry sabre-like proportions into forests being converted for oil palm, pulpwood and mining — the comparison with saber-toothed cats is anatomy, not destiny.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/sunda-clouded-leopard): Sunda Clouded Leopard — wildlife guide.

## When did the Sunda clouded leopard become a separate species?
In 2006, split from the mainland clouded leopard on genetics, coat pattern and skull morphology. It occurs on Borneo and Sumatra.

## Why compare it to saber-toothed cats?
It has the longest canines relative to skull of any living cat. True sabre-tooths are covered at /wildlife-guides/extinct-animals/saber-toothed-cat/ — different skull mechanics and extinction drivers.

## Are Sunda clouded leopards endangered?
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Forest conversion for oil palm and pulpwood, mining and snaring drive decline; data are sparse.

## Where do they live?
Lowland and hill forest on Borneo and Sumatra — arboreal, secretive, poorly surveyed.

## How big is a Sunda clouded leopard?
Roughly 12–16 kg — smaller than a leopard, larger than a domestic cat, with a exceptionally long tail.

## What threatens them most?
Oil palm and pulpwood conversion, mining fragmentation and snaring — the standard Sundaland forest predator package.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/bornean-bearded-pig): Bornean Bearded Pig — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus) is a Vulnerable wild pig of Borneo known for mass migrations; populations collapsed after African swine fever spread from around 2020, on top of oil palm, pulpwood and mining-driven forest loss.

## Introduction
The Bornean bearded pig is a large wild pig of Sundaland rainforest, named for the pale whiskers and warty snout that distinguish it from other Sus species. It is a fruit and seed predator, a soil disturber and — historically — a mass migrant. Herds of hundreds or thousands once moved across Borneo on irregular long-distance treks tied to fruiting cycles and dry-season ecology.

Those migrations have largely stopped. African swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious virus lethal to pigs, spread through Borneo from around 2020. Mortality in bearded pigs was catastrophic in reported outbreaks — carcasses found along former migration routes, populations collapsing in areas that had supported large herds for generations. The virus arrives with trade and transport networks; it kills independently of oil palm — but forest loss and hunting had already reduced herds before ASF.

Bearded pigs need forest for food and cover; plantations offer little. Oil palm, pulpwood and mining remove habitat while snaring and hunting persist. ASF added a epidemic layer on top of the Sundaland conversion economy — a reminder that wildlife disease and land use interact.

## Takeaway
Bornean bearded pigs were known for mass migrations of hundreds or thousands across Borneo, linked to fruiting and seasonality.

## Takeaway
African swine fever, spreading from around 2020, caused catastrophic mortality and largely ended migration behaviour in affected areas.

## Takeaway
They are forest pigs — fruit, seeds and roots — not pasture animals; oil palm and pulpwood plantations do not replace habitat.

## Takeaway
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List before ASF intensified decline; hunting and snaring added pressure.

## Takeaway
Disease spread follows trade and transport routes in Southeast Asia — wildlife and domestic pig networks connect.

## Takeaway
Forest conversion for mining and plantations fragments the large landscapes migrations required even before disease.

## Mass migrations and why they mattered
Bearded pig migrations were among Borneo's great wildlife spectacles — large herds crossing rivers and ridges on schedules linked to mast fruiting and dry weather. Migrations moved genes, disturbed soil, spread seeds and supplied prey for clouded leopards and pythons.

When migrations ceased locally, the ecological role ceased with them. A sedentary remnant population in a forest fragment does not replace kilometre-scale movement. ASF did not invent the problem — forest loss and hunting had narrowed herds — but it broke the behaviour suddenly and at scale.

## African swine fever from 2020
African swine fever is a viral disease of pigs, often fatal, spreading through contact and contaminated material. It reached Borneo around 2020 via routes still being traced — likely connected to pork trade and transport. Bearded pigs died in large numbers; field reports described rivers of carcasses along former migration paths.

ASF does not respect protected-area boundaries. It adds epidemic mortality to an ungulate already losing forest to oil palm and pulpwood. Recovery, if it comes, requires both disease absence and forest large enough to support herds — neither guaranteed.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/bornean-bearded-pig): Bornean Bearded Pig — wildlife guide.

## Oil palm, pulpwood, mining and hunting
Sundaland's conversion economy removes the forest bearded pigs forage — dipterocarp fruit, seeds, roots — and replaces it with monoculture. Mining opens access for hunters; snares kill pigs as bycatch. Wildlife trade in Southeast Asia includes bushmeat demand in cities reachable by new roads.

Bearded pigs are Vulnerable because the combination predates ASF: less forest, more access, fewer herds. Plantation-dominated provinces may retain pigs at edges; they no longer support migrations that defined the species' ecology in Borneo literature.

## Wild pigs among hoofed mammals
Bearded pigs belong with Sundaland's ungulates — banteng, deer, chevrotains — as large herbivores and omnivores shaped by forest extent. WARN groups hoofed mammals for identification; pigs are the disturbers, turning soil and eating fallen fruit, linking tree reproduction to mammal movement.

Losing bearded pigs is not losing a crop pest — it is losing a migratory engineer. ASF made the loss visible fast; oil palm and pulpwood made the loss inevitable slow.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education when disease and land use collide. Bornean bearded pig migrations ended in many areas after African swine fever — atop decades of oil palm, pulpwood and mining conversion that had already shrunk the forest those herds needed.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/bornean-bearded-pig): Bornean Bearded Pig — wildlife guide.

## What happened to Bornean bearded pig migrations?
Mass migrations largely ceased in many areas after African swine fever spread through Borneo from around 2020, killing large numbers. Forest loss and hunting had already reduced herds.

## What is African swine fever?
A highly contagious viral disease fatal to pigs, wild and domestic. It reached Borneo around 2020 and caused catastrophic bearded pig mortality.

## Are Bornean bearded pigs endangered?
Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with decline intensified by ASF, hunting and forest conversion for oil palm, pulpwood and mining.

## Why are they called bearded pigs?
Pale whiskers and warty facial features give a bearded appearance — distinctive among wild pigs.

## Where do they live?
Borneo primarily, plus Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and smaller islands — lowland and hill forest.

## Do plantations support bearded pigs?
No. They need forest fruit and cover; oil palm monoculture does not replace foraging habitat or migration corridors.

## What do bornean bearded pigs eat?
Bornean Bearded Pigs eat Beard — Pale whiskers and warty snout — namesake feature. The Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus) is a Vulnerable wild pig of Borneo known for mass migrations; populations collapsed after African swine fever spread from around 2020, on top of oil palm, pulpwood and mining-driven forest loss.

## How long do bornean bearded pigs live?
A precise wild lifespan for bornean bearded pigs is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus) is a Vulnerable wild pig of Borneo known for mass migrations; populations collapsed after African swine fever spread from around 2020, on top of oil palm, pulpwood and mining-driven forest loss. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a bornean bearded pig?
A Bornean Bearded Pig is about Up to ~100 kg or more in large boars. The Bornean bearded pig (Sus barbatus) is a Vulnerable wild pig of Borneo known for mass migrations; populations collapsed after African swine fever spread from around 2020, on top of oil palm, pulpwood and mining-driven forest loss. Conservation status: Vulnerable.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/sifaka): Sifaka — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
Sifakas are nine species of lemur in the genus Propithecus, found only in Madagascar, famous for sideways bipedal hopping on the ground; several species are Critically Endangered as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost to tavy, charcoal production and the pet trade.

## Introduction
Sifakas are medium-sized lemurs in the genus Propithecus, found only in Madagascar, and they are among the most recognisable primates on the island because of how they move on the ground. In the canopy they vertical-cling-leap between trunks like other indriids. When the gap between trees is too wide, they descend and bound bipedally across open ground with arms raised for balance — a gait so distinctive that people call it dancing.

Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism: the vast majority of its mammals, reptiles and amphibians occur nowhere else on Earth. Sifakas are part of that radiation, and they are also among its most threatened primates. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost. Several sifaka species are now Critically Endangered, and the pattern is the same across the island: tavy slash-and-burn agriculture, charcoal production and the pet trade remove forest faster than any lemur can adapt — pressures driven by rural poverty and the lack of affordable alternatives, not by subsistence farmers acting without context.

## Takeaway
Sifakas are lemurs in the genus Propithecus — nine species, all endemic to Madagascar.

## Takeaway
They vertical-cling-leap in trees but bound bipedally sideways across open ground, with arms raised — the gait that earns them the name 'dancing lemurs'.

## Takeaway
Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism; sifakas are part of an isolated primate radiation found nowhere else.

## Takeaway
An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost; several sifaka species are Critically Endangered.

## Takeaway
Tavy slash-and-burn, charcoal production and the pet trade are the main drivers — rooted in rural poverty and weak alternatives, not in subsistence farming alone.

## Takeaway
Sifakas cannot cross open farmland safely; ground crossing exposes them to dogs, humans and starvation between forest fragments.

## Why sifakas dance
A sifaka in the canopy moves by vertical clinging and leaping — launching from a vertical trunk, rotating in the air, and landing on the next tree feet-first. That works until the gap is too wide. Then the animal descends.

On the ground a sifaka cannot walk on all fours efficiently because its legs are built for leaping, not quadrupedal walking. Instead it rises on its hind legs and hops sideways, arms out for balance, covering open ground between forest patches. The gait looks choreographed; it is biomechanics. The same adaptation that makes sifakas superb canopy leapers makes them awkward and exposed on the ground — which is precisely where deforestation forces them.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/sifaka): Sifaka — wildlife guide.

## Madagascar's endemism and what sifakas represent
Madagascar split from mainland Africa around 88 million years ago and has been isolated long enough for life to evolve in near-total separation. Roughly 90% of the island's vertebrates — mammals, reptiles, amphibians and freshwater fish — occur nowhere else. Lemurs are the most visible part of that story; sifakas are one of the indriid lineages within it.

That endemism is also a vulnerability. A species found only on Madagascar has nowhere else to go when forest disappears. Sifakas that once moved between connected stands now face open maize fields, cassava plots and charcoal-scarred hillsides. Each crossing is a gamble against feral dogs, hunting and the simple fact that a leaf-eating lemur cannot feed in a crop field.

## Which species are in trouble?
Coquerel's sifaka of north-western dry forest is Critically Endangered, confined to fragments around Ankarafantsika and the Antrema biocultural reserve. Perrier's sifaka of the far north is Critically Endangered, with a tiny range. Diademed and silky sifakas of eastern rainforest are Critically Endangered or Endangered, depending on the assessment. Verreaux's sifaka remains more widespread in the south and west but is declining as spiny forest is cleared.

The common thread is forest loss. Tavy — traditional slash-and-burn — clears land for subsistence crops when families have no other income and no alternative fuel. Charcoal production removes living trees from the same fragments sifakas depend on. The pet trade removes individuals. These pressures are linked to rural poverty and the absence of affordable cooking fuel and agricultural alternatives on much of the island — not to farmers acting without cause.

## What conservation requires
Protecting sifakas means protecting connected forest and reducing the need to clear it. That includes community-managed reserves such as Antrema, where local people benefit from ecotourism and sustainable harvest rather than from converting the last dry forest to charcoal. It includes reforestation corridors that let sifakas move between fragments without crossing open ground. And it includes enforcing CITES Appendix I protections against the pet trade — every sifaka belongs in Madagascar's forest, not in a cage abroad.

Blaming subsistence farmers without addressing poverty, fuel costs and land tenure solves nothing. The farmers clearing tavy are often doing so because charcoal sales or maize plots are the only cash available. Conservation that works pairs forest protection with alternatives — efficient cookstoves, community forestry income and legal recognition of community land rights.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education, including for Madagascar's lemurs — among the most endangered primates on Earth. Sifakas are CITES Appendix I listed and cannot be kept as pets; support habitat protection appeals that address the poverty context behind forest loss rather than blaming subsistence farmers in isolation.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/sifaka): Sifaka — wildlife guide.

## Why do sifakas dance?
They bound bipedally sideways across open ground when gaps between trees are too wide to leap. Their legs are built for vertical leaping, not quadrupedal walking, so they rise on hind legs and hop with arms raised for balance.

## How many sifaka species are there?
Nine recognised species in the genus Propithecus, all endemic to Madagascar. Several are Critically Endangered, including Coquerel's, Perrier's and silky sifakas.

## Are sifakas endangered?
Several species are Critically Endangered. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost, and sifakas cannot survive in open farmland. Ground crossing between fragments is a leading cause of mortality.

## Why is Madagascar forest being cleared?
Tavy slash-and-burn for subsistence crops, charcoal production for cooking fuel and logging for timber. These pressures are driven by rural poverty and the lack of affordable alternatives — not by subsistence farming alone.

## What do sifakas eat?
Sifakas eat Leaves, fruit, flowers and bark. Sifakas are nine species of lemur in the genus Propithecus, found only in Madagascar, famous for sideways bipedal hopping on the ground; several species are Critically Endangered as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost to tavy, charcoal production and the pet trade.

## Where do sifakas live?
Sifakas live in Madagascar, Dry deciduous and spiny forest in the west and south. Sifakas are nine species of lemur in the genus Propithecus, found only in Madagascar, famous for sideways bipedal hopping on the ground; several species are Critically Endangered as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost to tavy, charcoal production and the pet trade.

## Are sifakas dangerous?
Sifakas are domesticated animals and are not dangerous to people in the wild-predator sense. Sifakas are nine species of lemur in the genus Propithecus, found only in Madagascar, famous for sideways bipedal hopping on the ground; several species are Critically Endangered as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost to tavy, charcoal production and the pet trade. Usual risks are husbandry and handling, not unprovoked attacks.

## How long do sifakas live?
A precise wild lifespan for sifakas is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. Sifakas are nine species of lemur in the genus Propithecus, found only in Madagascar, famous for sideways bipedal hopping on the ground; several species are Critically Endangered as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost to tavy, charcoal production and the pet trade. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a sifaka?
Sifakas are nine species of lemur in the genus Propithecus, found only in Madagascar, famous for sideways bipedal hopping on the ground; several species are Critically Endangered as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost to tavy, charcoal production and the pet trade.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/fossa): Fossa — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is Madagascar's largest native carnivore and apex predator, cat-like in appearance but a euplerid mongoose relative; it hunts lemurs in the canopy, is listed Vulnerable, and declines as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost.

## Introduction
The fossa is the largest native carnivore on Madagascar and the island's apex predator. It has a cat-like head, short reddish-brown fur, a long tail and retractable claws — enough to fool most visitors into calling it a big cat. It is not one. The fossa belongs to Eupleridae, the Malagasy mongoose family, and its closest relatives are the island's smaller carnivorans rather than any felid.

It is also the main predator of lemurs, climbing as competently as its prey and hunting both day-active and nocturnal species. Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism, and the fossa–lemur relationship is one of the clearest examples of co-evolution on an island where both predator and prey occur nowhere else. An estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost, and the fossa is listed Vulnerable — losing the forest that supports lemurs removes the prey base and the canopy connectivity this predator needs. Tavy slash-and-burn, charcoal production and hunting pressure follow the same poverty-driven pattern seen across Madagascar.

## Takeaway
The fossa is Madagascar's largest native carnivore and apex predator, hunting lemurs in the canopy.

## Takeaway
It looks cat-like but belongs to Eupleridae — the Malagasy mongoose family — not Felidae.

## Takeaway
Its ankles rotate so it can climb head-first down tree trunks, like a squirrel — unlike any cat.

## Takeaway
Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism; fossas and lemurs co-evolved in isolation.

## Takeaway
An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost; the fossa is listed Vulnerable.

## Takeaway
Forest loss from tavy and charcoal production is driven by rural poverty — the same context that threatens every forest-dependent Malagasy species.

## Cat-like, but a mongoose
The fossa's convergent resemblance to a small puma is misleading. Euplerids split from other carnivorans on Madagascar and radiated into forms that fill niches occupied elsewhere by cats, civets and mongooses. Cryptoprocta ferox sits at the top of that radiation.

Retractile claws, a long tail for balance and a jaw built for killing vertebrate prey describe a cat as well as a fossa. The differences are in the details: the fossa's scent glands, dental formula and genetic placement all align with mongooses and their Malagasy relatives, not with felids. On an island with no native cats, a mongoose lineage became the predator that lemurs evolved to fear.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/fossa): Fossa — wildlife guide.

## The lemur predator
Fossas hunt lemurs — the primates that make up most of their diet alongside tenrecs, rodents, birds and reptiles. They climb well enough to pursue arboreal lemurs through the canopy and are agile enough to take sifakas when those lemurs descend to cross open ground.

The relationship is ecological, not optional. WARN's lemur wildlife guide at /wildlife-guides/lemur covers the roughly 100 lemur species that share Madagascar's remaining forest with the fossa. Remove lemurs through hunting or habitat loss and you remove the fossa's primary prey. Remove forest and you remove both. The two groups stand or fall together on an island where roughly 90% of vertebrates occur nowhere else.

## Reversible ankles
A fossa can climb head-first down a tree trunk because its ankle joints rotate — the same adaptation found in squirrels and some mustelids, and absent in cats. The hind feet can point backward, letting the animal grip the bark while descending face-down after an arboreal lemur.

That flexibility matters for a predator that hunts in three dimensions. Lemurs escape upward and outward; a fossa that could only climb up would lose prey at the first vertical chase. The reversible ankle is the mechanical answer to an evolutionary arms race that has played out only on Madagascar.

## Forest loss and the poverty context
The fossa is listed Vulnerable. It still occurs across much of Madagascar where forest remains, but that forest is shrinking. An estimated 80–90% of the island's original cover has been lost. What survives is fragmented — patches too small to support a ranging carnivore, separated by open farmland that fossas cross at risk from dogs and people.

Tavy slash-and-burn clears land for subsistence crops; charcoal production removes trees for cooking fuel. Both are driven by rural poverty and the absence of affordable alternatives on much of the island — not by farmers acting without reason. Persecution adds pressure where fossas take poultry. Conservation that works protects forest, supports community alternatives to charcoal, and treats the poverty behind tavy as part of the problem rather than blaming subsistence farmers in isolation.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education across Madagascar's unique fauna. The fossa is the apex predator of an island where roughly 90% of vertebrates occur nowhere else — and its future is tied to the lemurs it hunts and the forest both depend on.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/fossa): Fossa — wildlife guide.

## Is a fossa a cat?
No. It looks cat-like but belongs to Eupleridae, the Malagasy mongoose family. Its closest relatives are island carnivorans such as the falanouc and Malagasy civet, not felids.

## What do fossas eat?
Fossas eat Lemurs. The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is Madagascar's largest native carnivore and apex predator, cat-like in appearance but a euplerid mongoose relative; it hunts lemurs in the canopy, is listed Vulnerable, and declines as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost.

## Why can fossas climb down trees head-first?
Their ankle joints rotate, allowing the hind feet to point backward and grip bark while descending — the same adaptation as squirrels, unlike cats.

## Are fossas endangered?
They are listed Vulnerable. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost, and fragmented forest cannot support ranging predators. Hunting and persecution add pressure.

## Where do fossas live?
In remaining forest across Madagascar, from lowland rainforest to dry deciduous woodland. They need connected canopy and sufficient lemur prey.

## How are fossas related to lemurs?
Ecologically, not taxonomically. Fossas are the main native predator of lemurs. Both groups evolved in isolation on Madagascar. See WARN's lemur guide at /wildlife-guides/lemur for the prey species.

## Are fossas dangerous?
Fossas can be dangerous if cornered but rarely seek out people. Madagascar's largest native carnivore weighs roughly 5.5–8.6 kg and hunts lemurs in the canopy using retractable claws and reversible ankles. Persecution where fossas take poultry adds pressure alongside forest loss. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost. The fossa is listed Vulnerable. It belongs to Eupleridae — Malagasy mongooses — not the cat family.

## How big is a fossa?
A fossa measures about 1.4–1.8 m including its long tail and weighs roughly 5.5–8.6 kg — Madagascar's largest native carnivore. Cat-like in appearance but a euplerid mongoose relative, it hunts lemurs in the canopy using reversible ankles to climb head-first down tree trunks. An estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost, and the species is listed Vulnerable as fragmented forest cannot support ranging predators.

## How long do fossas live?
A precise wild lifespan for fossas is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is Madagascar's largest native carnivore and apex predator, cat-like in appearance but a euplerid mongoose relative; it hunts lemurs in the canopy, is listed Vulnerable, and declines as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/tenrec): Tenrec — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
Tenrecs are around 30 species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae, an adaptive radiation endemic to Madagascar; the lowland streaked tenrec is the only mammal known to stridulate with quills, and the family persists as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost.

## Introduction
Tenrecs are a family of small mammals that underwent one of the most dramatic adaptive radiations on Earth after reaching Madagascar. Around 30 species occupy niches filled elsewhere by shrews, hedgehogs, otters, moles and even elephants — the largest tenrec, the common tenrec, can weigh over a kilogram, while the smallest are shrew-sized.

Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism, and tenrecs are a textbook example of why: an ancestral colonist arrived once and diversified into forms that look unrelated but share a common ancestry. The lowland streaked tenrec carries a distinction no other mammal matches — it stridulates by rubbing specialised quills together to produce a high-pitched sound, the only mammal known to do so. An estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost, and while many tenrecs persist in disturbed habitat, forest specialists decline as tavy, charcoal production and the pet trade remove cover — pressures rooted in rural poverty, not in subsistence farming alone.

## Takeaway
Tenrecs are an adaptive radiation of around 30 species, mostly endemic to Madagascar.

## Takeaway
They fill niches occupied elsewhere by shrews, hedgehogs, otters and moles — all from a common ancestor.

## Takeaway
The lowland streaked tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus) stridulates by rubbing quills together — the only mammal known to do this.

## Takeaway
Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism; tenrecs illustrate how one colonist can diversify on an isolated island.

## Takeaway
An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost; forest-specialist tenrecs decline as habitat fragments.

## Takeaway
Tavy, charcoal production and the pet trade follow the same poverty-driven pattern threatening every Malagasy forest species.

## An island radiation
When the ancestral tenrec reached Madagascar, it found an island with no shrews, hedgehogs, moles or otters. Over tens of millions of years its descendants split into forms that convergently resemble all of them. The common tenrec is hedgehog-like. The aquatic tenrec swims like an otter. The shrew tenrecs are tiny insectivores. The mole tenrecs burrow.

They are not closely related to the animals they resemble. They are related to each other — and to elephants and aardvarks, as members of the afrotherian superorder. Madagascar's roughly 90% vertebrate endemism means this radiation has no parallel elsewhere; it is one of the clearest demonstrations of what isolation produces.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/tenrec): Tenrec — wildlife guide.

## The quill that sings
The lowland streaked tenrec carries barbed quills like a hedgehog, but it uses them differently. When threatened or communicating, it rubs specialised quills together to produce a high-pitched stridulation — the same mechanism crickets use, but executed by a mammal. No other mammal is known to stridulate.

The sound may warn predators, coordinate group movement or advertise territory. What matters for identification is that tenrecs are not hedgehogs — they are a Malagasy lineage with a communication system unique among mammals. Hearing a high chirp from leaf litter in eastern Madagascar may mean a streaked tenrec, not an insect.

## Generalists and specialists
Some tenrecs tolerate disturbed habitat well. The common tenrec forages in gardens and secondary scrub. Others need intact forest and decline as cover disappears. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost, and the pattern affects tenrecs unevenly: generalists persist while specialists retreat to fragments.

Tenrecs are not major pet-trade targets compared with lemurs or chameleons, but forest loss is the common pressure. Tavy clears understorey where streaked tenrecs forage. Charcoal production removes the trees that maintain humidity. Both are driven by rural poverty and the lack of affordable cooking fuel — the context without which blaming subsistence farmers misstates the problem.

## Why tenrecs matter ecologically
Tenrecs are insectivores and omnivores that control invertebrate populations across Madagascar's forest floor. They are prey for fossas, snakes and birds of prey. Remove them and you alter a food web that evolved in isolation for millions of years.

They are also a reminder that Madagascar's biodiversity is not only lemurs and baobabs. The small, unglamorous mammals in the leaf litter carry evolutionary stories found nowhere else — including a quill-based stridulation that no textbook outside the island explains.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education across Madagascar's radiations, including the groups tourists overlook. Tenrecs are part of the roughly 90% vertebrate endemism that makes Madagascar irreplaceable — and they lose ground every time forest is cleared for tavy or charcoal without alternatives in place.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/tenrec): Tenrec — wildlife guide.

## What is a tenrec?
A small mammal in the family Tenrecidae, mostly endemic to Madagascar. Around 30 species radiated from a single ancestor into forms resembling shrews, hedgehogs, otters and moles.

## Are tenrecs related to hedgehogs?
No. They resemble hedgehogs through convergent evolution but belong to Afrotheria, closer to elephants and aardvarks than to European hedgehogs.

## Which tenrec stridulates?
The lowland streaked tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus) rubs specialised quills together to produce sound — the only mammal known to stridulate.

## Why did tenrecs diversify so much?
Madagascar had empty niches — no native shrews, moles or hedgehogs — when the ancestral tenrec arrived. Isolation for millions of years allowed adaptive radiation into many forms.

## What do tenrecs eat?
Tenrecs eat ~30 — Tenrec species — one of Madagascar's great radiations. Tenrecs are around 30 species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae, an adaptive radiation endemic to Madagascar; the lowland streaked tenrec is the only mammal known to stridulate with quills, and the family persists as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost.

## Where do tenrecs live?
Tenrecs live in Madagascar, Also the Comoros — but the radiation is overwhelmingly Malagasy. Tenrecs are around 30 species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae, an adaptive radiation endemic to Madagascar; the lowland streaked tenrec is the only mammal known to stridulate with quills, and the family persists as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost.

## Are tenrecs dangerous?
Tenrecs are domesticated animals and are not dangerous to people in the wild-predator sense. Tenrecs are around 30 species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae, an adaptive radiation endemic to Madagascar; the lowland streaked tenrec is the only mammal known to stridulate with quills, and the family persists as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost. Usual risks are husbandry and handling, not unprovoked attacks.

## How long do tenrecs live?
A precise wild lifespan for tenrecs is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. Tenrecs are around 30 species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae, an adaptive radiation endemic to Madagascar; the lowland streaked tenrec is the only mammal known to stridulate with quills, and the family persists as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a tenrec?
A Tenrec is about 1 (Mammal known to stridulate with quills — the lowland streaked tenrec). Tenrecs are around 30 species of mammal in the family Tenrecidae, an adaptive radiation endemic to Madagascar; the lowland streaked tenrec is the only mammal known to stridulate with quills, and the family persists as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost. Conservation status: Forest loss from tavy and charcoal production.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/panther-chameleon): Panther Chameleon — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) is a large colourful chameleon of northern Madagascar whose males display vivid geographic colour morphs; colour change is driven by mood and signalling via nanocrystal structural colour, not camouflage, and the species is heavily traded despite Least Concern listing.

## Introduction
The panther chameleon is among the most colourful reptiles on Earth. Males carry vivid bands of blue, green, red and orange that vary by population — Nosy Be males trend blue, Ambilobe males mix green and red — and females are typically tan or peach with less dramatic patterning. It is also the species most people picture when they think of chameleons, and the one most heavily traded as a pet.

The popular belief that chameleons change colour to match their background is wrong for this species and for most chameleons. Colour change in the panther chameleon is driven chiefly by mood, temperature, social signalling and territorial display — not by background matching. The mechanism is structural: nanocrystals in the skin rearrange to reflect different wavelengths, producing shifts that can occur in minutes. Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism, and half the world's chameleon species live only there. An estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost, and wild collection for the pet trade adds pressure on top of tavy and charcoal production — both linked to rural poverty on an island with few affordable alternatives.

## Takeaway
The panther chameleon is one of the largest and most colourful chameleons, with male colour morphs varying by geographic population.

## Takeaway
Colour change is driven by mood, temperature and social signalling — not by matching the background.

## Takeaway
The mechanism uses nanocrystals in iridophore cells that rearrange to reflect different wavelengths — structural colour, not pigment alone.

## Takeaway
Madagascar holds roughly half the world's chameleon species and roughly 90% vertebrate endemism.

## Takeaway
An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost; the pet trade adds collection pressure on wild populations.

## Takeaway
Tavy and charcoal production follow the poverty-driven pattern seen across Madagascar — forest loss is the baseline threat.

## Colour change is not camouflage
Chameleons are famous for changing colour, and the popular explanation — that they match their surroundings — is mostly incorrect. Panther chameleons shift between vivid greens, blues, reds and dark bands in response to stress, courtship, territorial disputes and temperature regulation. A male confronting a rival flushes dramatically; a calm male at rest shows his locale's typical colours regardless of the branch beneath him.

Background matching exists in some chameleon species to a limited degree, but it is not the primary function in Furcifer pardalis. What you see in a panther chameleon is a social and physiological display system, not an invisibility cloak. Correcting this myth matters because it shapes how people understand both the animal and the conservation pressure: collectors want vivid males, not invisible ones.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/panther-chameleon): Panther Chameleon — wildlife guide.

## Nanocrystals and structural colour
The colours in a panther chameleon's skin are produced largely by structural rather than pigment-based mechanisms. Iridophore cells contain nanocrystals of guanine arranged in lattices. When the chameleon relaxes or tenses the skin, the lattice spacing changes, altering which wavelengths reflect back — blue, green or red — without any change in pigment chemistry.

Research published in Nature Communications demonstrated this mechanism directly in panther chameleons. The shift can occur in minutes. It is one of the most sophisticated structural colour systems in vertebrates, and it explains why the same male can look dramatically different within a single hour as his mood and temperature change.

## Locale morphs and the pet trade
Male panther chameleons from different parts of northern Madagascar show distinct colour patterns — Nosy Be blues, Ambilobe rainbows, Sambava reds. These locale morphs are genetically based and prized in the captive trade, which drives collection of wild males for export and breeding stock.

The species is listed Least Concern because it remains widespread, but the listing describes range rather than security. Wild collection is legal under CITES Appendix II with permits, but enforcement on Madagascar is weak and illegal export is common. Forest loss from tavy and charcoal production removes the trees chameleons need; collection removes the breeding males. Both pressures operate on an island where an estimated 80–90% of original forest is already gone — and where tavy is driven by rural poverty, not by choice alone.

## Madagascar's chameleon diversity
Roughly half of the world's roughly 200 chameleon species live only in Madagascar. The island's isolation produced an endemic radiation alongside lemurs, tenrecs and fossas — part of the roughly 90% vertebrate endemism that defines Malagasy biodiversity.

Panther chameleons are the flagship, but they are one species in a larger crisis. Every forest-dependent chameleon loses ground when tavy clears understorey and charcoal production removes canopy. Conservation that works protects forest, regulates collection, and addresses the poverty behind land clearing — cookstoves, community forestry income and tenure rights — rather than treating subsistence farmers as the sole cause.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education that corrects persistent myths. Panther chameleons do not change colour primarily to camouflage — they signal mood and territory through nanocrystal structural colour, on an island where roughly 90% of vertebrates occur nowhere else and an estimated 80–90% of original forest is already lost.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/panther-chameleon): Panther Chameleon — wildlife guide.

## Do panther chameleons change colour to match their background?
No. Colour change is driven chiefly by mood, temperature, social signalling and territorial display. Background matching is not the primary function in this species.

## How does panther chameleon colour work?
Nanocrystals of guanine in iridophore cells rearrange when the skin is tensed or relaxed, changing which wavelengths reflect back. This is structural colour, not pigment chemistry.

## Why do male panther chameleons look different in different places?
Locale morphs — Nosy Be blues, Ambilobe rainbows, Sambava reds — are genetically based geographic colour variants prized in the pet trade.

## Are panther chameleons endangered?
Listed Least Concern, but wild collection for the pet trade and forest loss are significant pressures. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost.

## Where do panther chameleons live?
Northern and eastern Madagascar, in humid forest and disturbed vegetation. Introduced populations exist on Réunion and Mauritius.

## Are panther chameleons dangerous?
The panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) is a large colourful chameleon of northern Madagascar whose males display vivid geographic colour morphs; colour change is driven by mood and signalling via nanocrystal structural colour, not camouflage, and the species is heavily traded despite Least Concern listing. Give wild panther chameleons space; do not corner or handle them.

## How long do panther chameleons live?
A precise wild lifespan for panther chameleons is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) is a large colourful chameleon of northern Madagascar whose males display vivid geographic colour morphs; colour change is driven by mood and signalling via nanocrystal structural colour, not camouflage, and the species is heavily traded despite Least Concern listing. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/leaf-tailed-gecko): Leaf-Tailed Gecko — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
Leaf-tailed geckos (genus Uroplatus) are around 20 species of gecko endemic to Madagascar, camouflaged as dead leaves with a skin fringe that eliminates shadow; several are Critically Endangered, and the pet trade adds pressure as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost.

## Introduction
Leaf-tailed geckos of the genus Uroplatus are among the most extreme camouflage specialists in the animal kingdom. Their flattened bodies, tail shaped like a withered leaf, mottled skin and — critically — a fringe of skin along the jaw, body and limbs break up the outline that would otherwise cast a shadow on the bark they rest against.

Around 20 species occur only in Madagascar, part of the island's roughly 90% vertebrate endemism. Several are Critically Endangered, including Uroplatus phantasticus — the satanic leaf-tailed gecko — named for the horn-like projections above its eyes. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost, and the pet trade targets Uroplatus heavily: their appearance makes them valuable to collectors worldwide. Tavy slash-and-burn and charcoal production remove the humid forest they require — pressures driven by rural poverty and the lack of affordable alternatives, not by subsistence farming in isolation.

## Takeaway
Leaf-tailed geckos (Uroplatus) are around 20 species, all endemic to Madagascar.

## Takeaway
A fringe of skin along the jaw, body and limbs breaks up the shadow that would reveal the animal on bark.

## Takeaway
The tail is flattened and shaped like a dead or decaying leaf; the whole body mimics leaf litter.

## Takeaway
Several species are Critically Endangered; all Uroplatus are CITES Appendix II listed.

## Takeaway
The pet trade is a major pressure — wild-collected geckos are exported for the exotic pet market.

## Takeaway
An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost to tavy, charcoal production and logging — driven by rural poverty.

## How the fringe eliminates shadow
Camouflage is not only about colour. A gecko that matches bark perfectly still casts a shadow — a dark outline that predators detect. Uroplatus species carry lateral fringes of skin, called dermal flaps, along the head, body, limbs and tail. These flaps blur the edge between animal and substrate, scattering the shadow that would otherwise give the gecko away.

At rest the gecko presses its body flat against the trunk, closes its eyes — which have no eyelids but are covered by a transparent spectacle — and parted its fringed jaw so the outline dissolves into bark texture. The effect is not perfect invisibility but enough to defeat a predator scanning for edges. On an island where roughly 90% of vertebrates occur nowhere else, Uroplatus represents camouflage pushed to its mechanical limit.

## The satanic leaf-tailed gecko
Uroplatus phantasticus is the smallest and most ornate of the genus, with pointed horn-like projections above the eyes that earned it the common name. It is nocturnal, feeds on insects, and is known from humid forest in eastern Madagascar.

It is listed Critically Endangered. Its range is small, its forest is shrinking, and it is collected for the pet trade. The combination — habitat loss plus commercial collection — is the pattern for several Uroplatus species. A Critically Endangered listing means the species faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild; for phantasticus that risk is immediate rather than theoretical.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/leaf-tailed-gecko): Leaf-Tailed Gecko — wildlife guide.

## The pet trade problem
Uroplatus geckos are among the most sought-after reptiles in the exotic pet trade. Their appearance commands high prices abroad, and wild collection continues despite CITES Appendix II regulation requiring export permits. Enforcement in Madagascar is limited, and illegal export is documented.

Captive breeding exists but does not meet demand, so wild collection persists. Every gecko removed is one fewer breeding adult in a population already confined to forest fragments. The pet trade is not the only pressure — forest loss is the baseline — but it removes individuals from populations that cannot spare them, on an island where an estimated 80–90% of original cover is already gone.

## Forest loss and the poverty context
Uroplatus needs humid forest with large trees and intact bark surfaces. Tavy clears understorey and removes the humidity microclimate. Charcoal production fells living trees. Logging opens canopy. All three are widespread across eastern Madagascar, driven by rural poverty — families clearing land because they have no other income, producing charcoal because it is the only affordable cooking fuel available.

Blaming subsistence farmers without that context misstates the problem. Conservation that works protects remaining forest blocks, regulates collection, supports captive breeding as an alternative to wild take, and addresses the poverty behind tavy through cookstove programmes and community forestry income.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education for Madagascar's herps, including species heavily targeted by the pet trade. Leaf-tailed geckos are CITES Appendix II listed; buying wild-caught animals supports collection from Critically Endangered wild populations on an island where roughly 90% of vertebrates occur nowhere else.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/leaf-tailed-gecko): Leaf-Tailed Gecko — wildlife guide.

## What is a leaf-tailed gecko?
A gecko in the genus Uroplatus — around 20 species endemic to Madagascar, camouflaged as dead leaves with a skin fringe that breaks up shadow on bark.

## How does the fringe work?
Dermal flaps along the jaw, body and limbs blur the edge between gecko and substrate, eliminating the shadow outline that would reveal the animal to predators.

## Are leaf-tailed geckos endangered?
Several Uroplatus species are Critically Endangered, including U. phantasticus. All are CITES Appendix II. Forest loss and the pet trade are the main pressures.

## Can you keep a leaf-tailed gecko as a pet?
Captive-bred animals exist, but wild collection continues to supply the trade illegally. Buying Uroplatus supports pressure on Critically Endangered wild populations in Madagascar.

## Where do satanic leaf-tailed geckos live?
Satanic Leaf-Tailed Geckos live in Madagascar, Eastern humid forest — several species with restricted ranges. Leaf-tailed geckos (genus Uroplatus) are around 20 species of gecko endemic to Madagascar, camouflaged as dead leaves with a skin fringe that eliminates shadow; several are Critically Endangered, and the pet trade adds pressure as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost.

## Are satanic leaf-tailed geckos dangerous?
Satanic Leaf-Tailed Geckos are domesticated animals and are not dangerous to people in the wild-predator sense. Leaf-tailed geckos (genus Uroplatus) are around 20 species of gecko endemic to Madagascar, camouflaged as dead leaves with a skin fringe that eliminates shadow; several are Critically Endangered, and the pet trade adds pressure as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost. Usual risks are husbandry and handling, not unprovoked attacks.

## How long do satanic leaf-tailed geckos live?
Satanic Leaf-Tailed Geckos typically live Leaf-shaped tail; dermal fringe eliminates shadow. Leaf-tailed geckos (genus Uroplatus) are around 20 species of gecko endemic to Madagascar, camouflaged as dead leaves with a skin fringe that eliminates shadow; several are Critically Endangered, and the pet trade adds pressure as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost. Wild and captive figures can differ; use the sources listed on the guide for the underlying studies.

## How big is a satanic leaf-tailed gecko?
Leaf-tailed geckos (genus Uroplatus) are around 20 species of gecko endemic to Madagascar, camouflaged as dead leaves with a skin fringe that eliminates shadow; several are Critically Endangered, and the pet trade adds pressure as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost.

## What do satanic leaf-tailed geckos eat?
It is nocturnal, feeds on insects, and is known from humid forest in eastern Madagascar. Leaf-tailed geckos (genus Uroplatus) are around 20 species of gecko endemic to Madagascar, camouflaged as dead leaves with a skin fringe that eliminates shadow; several are Critically Endangered, and the pet trade adds pressure as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/tomato-frog): Tomato Frog — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The tomato frog (Dyscophus antongilii) is a bright red microhylid frog endemic to north-eastern Madagascar that secretes a glue-like defensive substance to immobilise predators' mouths; it is listed Near Threatened as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost.

## Introduction
Tomato frogs are round, bright red or orange microhylid frogs of Madagascar, named because they look like small tomatoes sitting on the forest floor. Dyscophus antongilii — the species most often called the tomato frog — is the largest and brightest, reaching up to 10 centimetres and flushing vivid red when disturbed.

When threatened, tomato frogs secrete a thick white glue-like substance from skin glands. It is not a poison in the dart-frog sense — it is a defensive adhesive that can jam a predator's mouth shut or glue its eyes closed long enough for the frog to escape. Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism, and Dyscophus is one of several frog radiations found only there. An estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost, and D. antongilii is listed Near Threatened — losing humid forest around Antongil Bay to tavy, charcoal production and collection for the pet trade, in the same poverty-driven pattern that threatens every Malagasy forest species.

## Takeaway
Tomato frogs (Dyscophus) are round, bright red or orange frogs endemic to Madagascar.

## Takeaway
When threatened they secrete a thick glue-like substance that can jam a predator's mouth or eyes shut.

## Takeaway
The secretion is adhesive, not a neurotoxin — a different defensive strategy from poison dart frogs.

## Takeaway
Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism; Dyscophus is part of the island's endemic frog fauna.

## Takeaway
Dyscophus antongilii is listed Near Threatened; an estimated 80–90% of original forest has been lost.

## Takeaway
Forest loss from tavy and charcoal production is driven by rural poverty; the pet trade adds collection pressure.

## The glue defence
Most brightly coloured frogs advertise toxicity. Tomato frogs advertise stickiness. When grabbed or bitten, Dyscophus secretes a thick, white, viscous substance from parotoid and dorsal skin glands. The material is not a fast-acting poison — it is a defensive adhesive that glues the predator's mouth parts together or seals its eyes shut.

The frog sits still while the predator struggles to clear the glue, then hops away. The strategy works against snakes, birds and mammals that attack by biting. It is less effective against predators that swallow whole without chewing. The bright red colour is aposematic — a warning that handling this frog is a bad idea — but the mechanism is mechanical rather than chemical.

## Three Dyscophus species
The genus Dyscophus contains three species, all Madagascar endemic. D. antongilii — the tomato frog proper — is the largest and reddest, from north-eastern Madagascar around Antongil Bay. D. guineti is similar but smaller, from the north-west. D. insularis occurs on Nosy Be and nearby islands.

All three share the glue defence and the round tomato-like shape. D. antongilii carries the highest profile and the Near Threatened listing, reflecting its restricted range and ongoing habitat loss. On an island where roughly 90% of vertebrates occur nowhere else, losing a genus takes a defensive system that exists nowhere else with it.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/tomato-frog): Tomato Frog — wildlife guide.

## Forest loss around Antongil Bay
Dyscophus antongilii depends on humid lowland forest with leaf litter and standing water for breeding. The Antongil Bay region has lost substantial forest to tavy agriculture, logging and settlement expansion. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest cover is gone island-wide, and the north-east is not exempt.

Tavy clears the understorey and leaf litter these frogs need. Charcoal production removes canopy trees that maintain humidity. The pressures are the same across Madagascar: rural poverty drives land clearing because families lack other income, and charcoal is often the only affordable cooking fuel. Conservation that works protects forest blocks, creates breeding ponds in community reserves, and addresses poverty through alternatives — not by blaming subsistence farmers without context.

## Pet trade and chytrid
Tomato frogs are kept in captivity and exported under CITES Appendix II. Wild collection adds pressure on Near Threatened populations already losing habitat. Captive breeding reduces but does not eliminate wild take.

Like all amphibians, tomato frogs face the background threat of chytrid fungus, though Dyscophus has not been among the hardest-hit genera. The immediate pressure is habitat: a frog that breeds in forest pools cannot persist in cassava fields. Madagascar's amphibians as a class reflect the island's isolation — and its vulnerability as an estimated 80–90% of forest disappears.

## WARN work
WARN publishes free, sourced species education across Madagascar's herps. Tomato frogs use glue, not poison — a defensive system found only on an island where roughly 90% of vertebrates occur nowhere else and forest loss driven by rural poverty continues.

## Donation hook
If this guide helps you understand wildlife and the pressures it faces, a gift to WARN supports habitat protection and free public education in our partner countries.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/tomato-frog): Tomato Frog — wildlife guide.

## Are tomato frogs poisonous?
Not in the dart-frog sense. They secrete a thick glue-like adhesive that jams predators' mouths or eyes shut. The bright colour warns predators to avoid them.

## Where do tomato frogs live?
Madagascar only. Dyscophus antongilii is from north-eastern Madagascar around Antongil Bay; other Dyscophus species occur in the north-west and on Nosy Be.

## Are tomato frogs endangered?
Dyscophus antongilii is listed Near Threatened. An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost, and habitat loss is the main pressure.

## Can you keep a tomato frog as a pet?
Captive-bred animals are kept legally under CITES Appendix II, but wild collection continues. Prefer captive-bred sources to avoid pressuring Near Threatened wild populations.

## Are tomato frogs dangerous?
It is not a poison in the dart-frog sense — it is a defensive adhesive that can jam a predator's mouth shut or glue its eyes closed long enough for the frog to escape. Handle gently and with normal pet or farm care.

## How long do tomato frogs live?
A precise wild lifespan for tomato frogs is not firmly established in the sources cited on this guide. The tomato frog (Dyscophus antongilii) is a bright red microhylid frog endemic to north-eastern Madagascar that secretes a glue-like defensive substance to immobilise predators' mouths; it is listed Near Threatened as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost. Where longevity figures appear in the literature they vary by region, sex and whether animals are wild or captive.

## How big is a tomato frog?
A Tomato Frog is about Up to about 10 cm in D. antongilii. The tomato frog (Dyscophus antongilii) is a bright red microhylid frog endemic to north-eastern Madagascar that secretes a glue-like defensive substance to immobilise predators' mouths; it is listed Near Threatened as an estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost. Conservation status: Forest loss; pet trade collection.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/giraffe-weevil): Giraffe Weevil — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
The giraffe weevil (Trachelophorus giraffa) is a beetle endemic to Madagascar whose male has a neck two to three times longer than the female's, used for fighting and for rolling leaves into nest tubes; it is Least Concern but loses forest to tavy and charcoal production as an estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original cover has been lost.

## Introduction
The giraffe weevil is a small black beetle endemic to Madagascar with one of the most extreme sexual dimorphisms in the insect world. The male's neck — technically an elongated prothorax — can be two to three times the length of the female's, and he uses it to fight other males and to roll leaves into tubes where the female lays a single egg.

Madagascar holds roughly 90% vertebrate endemism, and its invertebrate fauna is equally distinctive — the giraffe weevil is one of the island's most photographed endemics. An estimated 80–90% of the island's original forest has been lost, and while the species is listed Least Concern because it remains widespread in eastern humid forest, that listing describes current range rather than trajectory. Tavy slash-and-burn and charcoal production remove the forest trees whose leaves this beetle rolls — pressures driven by rural poverty and the lack of affordable alternatives, the same context behind every Malagasy conservation crisis.

## Takeaway
The giraffe weevil is endemic to Madagascar — a black attelabid beetle with extreme neck dimorphism.

## Takeaway
The male's elongated prothorax is two to three times longer than the female's, used for fighting and nest-building.

## Takeaway
Females lay a single egg inside a leaf tube that the male or female cuts and rolls from a living leaf.

## Takeaway
Madagascar's invertebrate fauna is as distinctive as its vertebrates — part of the island's isolation story.

## Takeaway
An estimated 80–90% of Madagascar's original forest has been lost; eastern humid forest is the giraffe weevil's habitat.

## Takeaway
Tavy and charcoal production are driven by rural poverty — forest loss threatens even Least Concern endemics over time.

## Why the male neck is so long
Sexual selection, not feeding. The giraffe weevil's elongated prothorax is a weapon and a tool. Males fight by grappling with their necks, attempting to flip rivals off branches. Longer necks win more fights and gain more mating opportunities.

The neck also assists in leaf rolling — the nest-building behaviour that gives the family Attelabidae its common name, leaf-rolling weevils. A male may help cut and roll a leaf into a tube, though the female completes the nest and lays inside it. The dimorphism is among the most extreme in beetles: males and females look like different species until you know what to check.

## The leaf-roll nest
A female giraffe weevil selects a living leaf on a forest tree and cuts it so it curls into a tight tube. She lays a single egg inside, and the larva develops within the rolled leaf, feeding on the interior tissue before pupating and emerging as an adult.

The nest ties the species to intact forest with suitable host plants — typically trees in the family Dalrymplea and related genera in eastern humid forest. Clear the forest for tavy or charcoal and you remove both the trees and the humidity the leaf rolls need to persist. A beetle that builds its nursery inside a living leaf cannot reproduce in a cassava field.