Lemurs are cute animals that live on the island of Madagascar, the fourth-largest island in the world. Lemurs have big eyes, long noses, and long tails (except for the indri) and live high in the trees of Madagascan forests. Lemurs are quite intelligent. They are the cousins of monkeys and look quite
similar. Like monkeys, they also swing through trees and live in family groups.
There are many different species of lemurs. Some lemurs (the indri) sing like a whale, and some (the sifaka) dance like a ballet dancer. Some lemurs are very small, like the pygmy mouse lemur, which can weigh as little as 25 grams. Others, like the indri, can weigh up to 10 kilograms. Some lemurs are nocturnal, which means they stay awake all night and sleep during the day. Other lemurs are diurnal. A diurnal animal stays awake during the daytime like humans. Generally, smaller lemurs are nocturnal and bigger ones are diurnal. Every species of lemur is unique to Madagascar.
Unfortunately, people in Madagascar have been destroying the forests where lemurs live to build new farms and houses. Some local people hunt lemurs for food. Other people kill lemurs because they think that lemurs are bad luck. These actions have caused many species of lemur to disappear over the last few centuries. All of the remaining lemurs are endangered, which means that they will disappear too if something doesn't change soon.
While there are still over 100 species of lemurs left, many experts fear that
this number could fall very quickly. If serious efforts aren't made to protect the remaining lemurs of Madagascar, we may face a future where they are gone for
good.
狐猴是很可愛的動物，棲息在全世界第四大島馬達加斯加島上。牠有大大的眼睛，長長的鼻
子和一條長尾巴（光面狐猴除外），住在馬達加斯加森林裡的樹上高處。狐猴相當聰明，是猴子的表親，而且看起來也很相似。跟猴子一樣，牠們也會在樹林間穿梭擺盪，並且以家庭的型態生活在一起。
狐猴有許多不同種類。有些狐猴（如光面狐猴）會發出像鯨魚一樣的叫聲；而有些（如跳狐猴）則會像芭蕾舞者一樣滑步而行。有些狐猴很小，如只有25公克重的侏儒狐猴；有些像光面狐猴，則可以重達10公斤。有些狐猴屬於夜行性，晚上清醒，白天睡覺；有些則屬於日行性，日行性動物就像人類一樣，都是白天清醒。一般來說，較小型的狐猴多屬於夜行性，而較大型的則在日間活動。每種種類的狐猴都屬於馬達加斯加所特有。
不幸的是，馬達加斯加島民破壞了狐猴棲息的森林，來建造新農場或房子。一些當地人也獵
補狐猴為食。還有些人認為牠們會招致惡運而加以獵殺。種種行為使得許多種狐猴幾世紀以來已經絕種，剩餘的狐猴也瀕臨絕種。若我們不趕快採取行動，牠們也將消失殆盡。
目前仍有一百多種狐猴存活著，許多專家擔心這個數字將迅速減少。如果我們再不採取積極
行動來保護馬達加斯加島的僅存狐猴，未來將沒有狐猴存在了。
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