Tara A Clarke

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Lecturer at North Carolina State University

People are assisted by dogs in many activities which may bring them into contact with primates, often leading to negative interactions and outcomes for one or other species. People’s perceptions and behaviour towards dogs vary and are influenced by cultural and other factors. We present incidents of dog-primate harassment and predation found during...

Microbial rewilding, whereby exposure to naturalistic environments can modulate or augment gut microbiomes and improve host-microbe symbiosis, is being harnessed as an innovative approach to human health, one that may also have significant value to animal care and conservation. To test for microbial rewilding in animal microbiomes, we used a unique...

Background Inter-population variation in host-associated microbiota reflects differences in the hosts’ environments, but this characterization is typically based on studies comparing few populations. The diversity of natural habitats and captivity conditions occupied by any given host species has not been captured in these comparisons. Moreover, in...

Background Inter-population variation in host-associated microbiota reflects differences in the hosts’ environments, but this characterization is typically based on studies comparing few populations. The diversity of natural habitats and captivity conditions occupied by any given host species has not been captured in these comparisons. Moreover, in...

Canine rabies causes an estimated 60,000 human deaths per year, but these deaths are preventable through post-exposure prophylaxis of people and vaccination of domestic dogs. Dog vaccination campaigns targeting 70% of the population are effective at interrupting transmission. Here, we report on lessons learned during pilot dog vaccination campaigns...

Madagascar's ring‐tailed lemurs (Lemur catta ) are experiencing rapid population declines due to ongoing habitat loss and fragmentation, as well as increasing exploitation for bushmeat and the illegal pet trade. Despite being the focus of extensive and ongoing behavioral studies, there is comparatively little known about the genetic population stru...

2020 -- IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group (Madagascar Section) Red List conservation status review and update for the black lemur (Eulemur macaco). This was part of a bigger reviewing and updating of Red List conservation statuses for all lemur species -- the first such review and update for lemurs since 2012. As a result of this 2020 conservation...

For captive primates, greater provisioning of leafy greens or foliage can promote natural foraging behavior while boosting fiber intake. Recalcitrant fiber, although minimally available to endogenous metabolism, is readily fermented into nutrients by gut microbes. Whereas most primates in captivity consume fiber-limited diets and harbor imbalanced...

Primates are extracted from the wild for the pet trade across the world. In Madagascar, lemurs are kept as illegal pets and an understanding of lemur pet ownership at the national level is lacking. In 2013 and 2016, we undertook a national survey in 11 of Madagascar’s 22 administrative regions (n = 28 towns) with 1,709 households. To our knowledge,...

Lemur catta is the most reported illegal captive lemur. We document 286 L. catta that were held in illegal captive conditions in Madagascar. Coastal tourist destinations are “hot spots” for sightings. Many of the L. catta reported were in businesses (49%) and were perceived to be held captive for the purpose of generating income (41%). Infant/juven...

Genus/Species of pet lemurs reported by households during 2016 surveys. (DOCX)

Town-level data (for towns with more than 5,000 people) on the number of pet lemurs owned and seen in the recent past. (XLSX)

Species of lemur with which people on Twitter had interacted and IUCN red list status. (DOCX)

Number of tweets indicating someone wanting to own a pet lemur, number of tweets linking to the ‘viral video’, number of tweets about someone seeing a privately-owned pet lemur, and number of tweets about human-lemur interactions at zoos. (DOCX)

Additional methods and analyses. (DOCX)

Additional results. (DOCX)

Dataset for PLOS ONE. (XLSX)

Keywords used to capture tweets regarding pet lemurs, number of tweets using each keyword, number of tweets people expressing desire for a pet lemur, and number people tweeting about human-lemur contact (zoos and privately owned). (DOCX)

Non-human primates harbor zoonotic pathogens including the ra- bies virus (Rabies lyssavirus). Though the chances of rabies trans- mission from primates is low, guidelines currently recommend a post-exposure prophylaxis for unvaccinated persons. In Madagas- car, lemurs have been described as carriers of the rabies virus, but a discussion about the...

As with many other species in the primate order, ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) are threatened with extinction. Our articles documented declines in wild ring-tailed lemur populations and noted that fewer than 2,500 wild ring-tailed lemurs are known to persist in 32 [Gould and Sauther: Primate Conservation 2016; 30: 89-101] and 34 [LaFleur et al.:...

Primates are kept as pets for various reasons including as indicators of wealth. Ownership of primates can also be influenced by religion. In Madagascar, thousands of lemurs are kept as pets, but the roles of wealth and religion in the ownership of captive lemurs have not been explored. We use quantitative and qualitative data to examine these aspe...

The live capture of parrots is causing increasing concern across Africa. In Madagascar, home to three species of parrot (Coracop-sis nigra, C. vasa, Agapornis canus), no study has examined how these species are being extracted from the wild and traded. In this study, we examined the procurement, length of ownership, and the end of ownership of pet...

The Lemuriformes are a large, unique, and diverse group of primates found only on Madagascar. Lemurs represent 20 percent of all primate species and 30 percent of primate taxonomic families. The smallest lemur is also the smallest primate and weighs only approximately 30 g, while the largest three species weigh 6–6.9 kg. Lemurs are primarily arbore...

Correspondence: We call for urgent action to increase government effectiveness in fighting Madagascar’s illegal trade in live lemurs (see go.nature. com/2i6hvor). More funding is needed to investigate the issue, its extent and the factors behind it. Facilities to rehabilitate confiscated lemurs must be improved, and more international non-governme...

Lemurs are the most threatened group of mammals on earth. Lemur catta (ring-tailed lemur) represents one of the most iconic lemur species and faces numerous an-thropogenic threats in the wild. In this study, we present population estimates from 32 sites across the range of L. catta , collected from primary and secondary data sources, to assess the...

Madagascar's lemurs, now deemed the most endangered group of mammals, represent the highest primate conservation priority in the world. Due to anthropogenic disturbances, an estimated 10% of Malagasy forest cover remains. The endangered Lemur catta is endemic to the southern regions of Madagascar and now occupies primarily fragmented forest habitat...