Lemurs becoming dinner

Hunger in Africa is forcing families to break taboos and eat Lemurs and other animals for meat, which might cause the animals close to extinction. In Madagascar Radiated Tortoise are close to extinction. These animals once were only eaten on special occasions, but with bad harvests they are being consumed more frequently. Now these creatures are becoming more of a daily diet, and are unable to protect themselves because they are almost completely harmless. They are slow moving and a easy prey. The Tortoise's are also being captured and sold over in Asia for consumption on the illegal market.

Above is a picture of a Radiated Tortoise. These animals can grow up to 16inches in length and weight up to 35pounds. Their diet is mostly grass and fruits, this reptile can live up to 40-50 years. The female Tortoise can produce anywhere between 3-12 eggs taking about 5-8 months before they are hatched. I gathered this information from National Zoo webpage. If you click on the link you will be able to learn more information about these reptiles.

I believe we need to watch these animals and protect them from extinction, but also the people of Madagascar need to eat. As in a previous discussion post we were talking about the climate affecting the harvests and if people don't have food to eat they will starve. I think we should step in and help them out because we want to protect our animals and we also want to protect our people. Therefore a solution needs to be figured out to protect both.