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How does a lemur jump 10 meters from a tree?

Imagine jumping across an entire school gymnasium—all in one jump! That’s how a sifaka lemur jumps. It pushes off with its hind legs from a tree trunk and flies 10 meters—and so from tree to tree, as if flying. And another lemur, the ring-tailed lemur, walks on the ground with funny steps, holding its striped black-and-white tail high up like a flag.

Lemurs live in only one place on the entire planet - on the island of Madagascar near Africa. Why there? Many millions of years ago, Madagascar broke away from Africa and sailed into the ocean like a big boat. Lemurs were left there alone, without predators. And they began to develop in their own way. Today there are 100 species of them - and all of them can be seen only on this island!

The smallest lemur, the mouse lemur, fits in the palm of your hand and weighs 30 grams. And the largest, the indri, is like a medium-sized dog. They all move differently: some jump, others run sideways, and nocturnal lemurs have huge eyes, like in cartoons.

Did you know that lemurs are distant relatives of monkeys and… humans? We are all primates. But lemurs are the most ancient among us. If they could talk, they would tell us about what the world looked like 50 million years ago.

Unfortunately, the forests of Madagascar are disappearing, and it's getting hard for the lemurs. Scientists and children around the world are raising money to save these wonderful forests. Because when the forest disappears, so will the world's only island of jumping furry creatures with big eyes.