Lemurs sliding to extinction

A new survey shows lemurs are far more threatened than previously thought.

A group of specialists is in Madagascar - the only place where lemurs are found in the wild - to systematically assess the animals and decide where they sit on the Red List of Threatened Species.

More than 90% of the 103 species should be on the Red List, they say.

Since a coup in 2009, conservation groups have repeatedly found evidence of illegal logging, and hunting of lemurs has emerged as a new threat.

The assessment, conducted by the Primate Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), concludes that 23 lemurs qualify as Critically Endangered - the highest class of threat.

Fifty-two are in the Endangered classification, and a further 19 Vulnerable to extinction.

Species can qualify for a Red List category on several measures.

A Critically Endangered listing can mean the population numbers less than 50 matur