• Anti-predatory behaviour
• Behaviour
• Behavioural ecology
• Conservation
• Covid-19
• Demography
• Hunting
• Lemurs
• Lockdown
• Madagascar
• Primates

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to impact global economies on an unprecedented scale. Following the onset of the pandemic, and although global carbon dioxide emissions fell by 6.4% (2.3 billion tonnes) in 2020 (primarily due to restrictions on travel), there have been reports of increases in forest loss, pollution from plastic medical waste in the ocean, and supply chain disruptions that impacted biodiversity in unexpected ways.
The absence of supplies during the closure period has highlighted the need to adopt alternative food sources, especially in the poorest and most remote communities. In Madagascar this is often reflected in the hunting of lemurs. All this has also had an impact in those places that have long since become protected areas, as the absence of funds (caused by the lockdown) has made it more difficult to invest in monitoring and protection. The union of these two factors can have devastating impacts on the defence of wildlife.
For example, in regard to the hunting of wild animals, some studies found that wildlife consumption declined in demand countries (for example, China −28%, Thailand −41%, Vietnam −39%), with nearly half of people surveyed indicating that their decreased consumption was related to concerns about zoonotic disease transmission. However, in many other countries, increases in hunting and poaching have been reported and recorded. Among the various countries we can mention Cambodia, Indonesia, Madagascar and Mexico. But increases are also reported in India and Peru; food insecurity and the need of supplies in more remote areas has increased the necessity to use nearby resources available, even when this meant committing illegal activities such as hunting in protected areas.
The goals of this study were to evaluate the impact of the lockdown effect on the demography of the population of lemurs present in the Ampasy valley, located in the northernmost portion of the Tsitongambarika Protected Area (TGK). For this, we estimated lemur populations density and encounter rates, which was then used to compare the data obtained with data from pre-COVID estimates. Furthermore, we studied anti-predatory behaviour of cathemeral lemur populations collected during the day. Also in this case, the data were compared with those before the COVID-19 period to explore possible differences due to the resuming of hunting in the protected area.
By integrating all the demographic and behavioural results, we can gain a broader understanding of the situation in the southeastern part of the island. We can conclude, based on our analyses, results, evidence and available data, that hunting has occurred in this portion of the TGK rainforest, but its impact has been relatively light. There is no strong evidence of significant changes in lemur group densities or encounter rates, and only partial alterations in behaviours suggest that hunting has occurred but not at an intensity that is cause for serious concern.
This study will contribute to understand the consequences of the pandemic on primate conservation, taking into consideration one of the major risk factors for primates around the world, hunting.