Gallery: How Yorkshire is helping this endangered lemur family

Slash-and-burn land clearing and hunting in its native Madagascar has reduced numbers of the blue-eyed black lemur to less than 1,000 in the wild.

The Foundation grant of £5,000 a year for the next three years will support lemur conservation projects including one that protects the blue-eyed black lemurs’ habitat, educates the local population, develops eco-tourism and studies the animals to improve their survival chances.

No blue eyed black lemurs live at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Branton near Doncaster, although it does have black and white ruffed lemurs and ringtailed lemurs. Last Easter, the park celebrated the birth of ringtailed lemur twins.

Foundation Trustee Cheryl Williams said: “These are truly beautiful animals - visitors always enjoy watching the lemurs at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, and we hope they will donate funds to this project.”

The project is run by the AEECL, a charitable consortium of European zoos and universities, dedicated to lemur conservation. It works in the remote north-west reaches of the Indian Ocean island Madagascar, with a permanent research station in the region.