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All Photographs by Kevin Schafer

The critically endangered Silky Sifaka (Propithecus candidus), is one of the rarest primates in the world and the flagship species of Marojejy National Park -- itself part of a newly-inaugurated World Heritage Site, perhaps the most biologically diverse area in Madagascar.  No one know exactly how many sifakas are left : estimates range from 100 to 1000.  Whatever the number, they inhabit a limited area of habitat - one increasingly under pressure from hunting and illegal logging. 

 

Silky Sifakas and Erik Patel are profiled in the April 2010 issue of Smithsonian Magazine