Lemur Lady Campaigns for Endangered Lemurs	This ScienceLives article was provided to Live Science in partnership with the National Science Foundation.	A serendipitous encounter between Patricia Wright then a social worker and an owl monkey in a New York City pet store in 1968 ultimately inspired Wright to reinvent herself  eventually becoming an award-winning Ph.D. scientist and conservationist devoted to saving lemurs. Lemurs are a primate found naturally only in Madagascar  the world  s fourth largest island located about 250 miles off the coast of southern Africa.	      	One of the World  s Most Endangered Primates	In 2012 the International Union for the Conservation of Nature described 91 percent of the 103 known species and subspecies of lemurs as threatened with extinction; this is one of the highest levels of threat ever recorded for a group of mammals.   	Because of Madagascar  s island isolation most of its plant and animal species are found nowhere else in the world. Nevertheless 79 percent of Madagascar  s original rain forest habitat has already been cleared by humans.   	Multifaceted Approaches	A professor at Stony Brook University Wright  approaches to saving Madagascar  s lemurs    and their forest habitat involves combining science and conservation. You can  t save what you don  t understand € she says.	Wright  s many scientific and conservation achievements include working with the Madagascar government to create Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar in 1991. The Park protects 43500 hectares of forest including rain forests and 12 lemur species. In addition Wright is the founder of the Centre ValBio Research Station located on the edge of the Park. Centre ValBio which is partially funded by the National Science Foundation is a pivotal hub for researching  rainforest biodiversity    and conservation and for conducting outreach to the community and policy makers. [Thanks Dad. Owl Monkeys Are Caring Fathers Too]	Wright partners with Malagasy villagers to develop conservation strategies that are scientifically sound and give villagers a stake in the sustainability of Madagascar  s rainforests. With more than 75 percent of Madagascar  s population surviving on or below $1.25 per day these solutions include promoting ecotourism.  	An Award-Winning Career	Throughout her career Wright has received many awards including the  MacArthur Genius Award € in 1989. On May 12 2014 Wright was named the 2014 winner of the Indianapolis Prize the world  s leading award for animal conservation. Three days later Wright €�accompanied by several lemurs €�rang the New York Stock Exchange  s Closing Bell.  	Along with gaggles of jumping and leaping lemurs €�Wright is featured in the new IMAX film Island of Lemurs: Madagascar which is currently playing throughout the U.S. Also Wright recently described her early research on owl monkeys and adventures in South American rain forests in High Moon Over the Amazon: My Quest to Understand the Monkeys of the Night (Lantern Books: 2013).  	Name: Patricia WrightInstitution: Stony Brook UniversityField of Study:  Anthropology primatology conservation	
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