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MUMBAI:
Animal Planet will air a new 20-episode show Lemur Street,
from 18 February at 9 pm.
The
stars of the series are 20-inch tall, with black and white
tails, living in the south-east corner of Madagascar - lemurs.
The births, deaths, affairs, battles and family feuds all
happen for real.
Filmed
over the course of a year, Lemur Street follows the
lives of two rival groups of ringtailed lemurs living in the
beautiful protected reserve of Berenty on the island of Madagascar,
off the coast of Africa. The gangs each are made up of about
20 lemurs, both ruled by a dominant female. Roving opportunistic
males trying to join the troop, babies and juveniles causing
havoc and the constant threat of eagles, hawks and territory
wars ensure that the lives of lemurs are filled with colour
and action.
Since
these unique and very social prosimians are habituated to
humans, it enabled detailed filming of every aspect of their
complex lives - from wars with neighbouring gangs and troop
leadership battles to political alliances and illicit relationships.
Territories are fiercely protected, mating right passionately
defended. There are also predators to watch out for and young
to bring up.
The
star casts of Lemur Street are two families - Graveyard
Gang and Tornado Troop, headed by their dominant females (Crystal
and Electra, respectively) because in ringtail society, the
girls outrank the boys. The two gangs may be neighbours, but
there's no love lost between them. Jealously defending their
respective territories, they often involve in often violent
clashes, and the numerous border infringements generally mean
war.
Crystal’s
gang sare all related to each other, so they are a close,
calm and content bunch that tends to hang out in their spiky
sisal-fenced home. On the other hand, their volatile neighbours
are the Tornado Troop, led by Electra, a paranoid loner. It
is made up of three separate families who are all vying to
rule the roost, so in-fighting is commonplace and nothing
is stable for long.
Lemur
Street follows the characters in each troop and tells
their stories, beginning in the March mating season when males
like dominant Flash (of the Tornados) get very hot under the
collar, often having to be put firmly in their place by the
feisty females. The cameras follow their progress through
to November when the newborns arrive and the rains finally
break. For the first time, a ring-tail birth is captured on
film. Along the way, viewers witness tragedy as some characters
cannot make it through the drought, as well as the joy of
new life, seeing tiny babies take their first breaths. Lost
infants, forest fires and a violent eviction are just some
of the stories waiting to unfold on Lemur Street, packed
with drama and jeopardy as well as beautiful wildlife imagery.
Dr
Alison Jolly who has been studying Lemur’s behaviour
since 1963 and has written many books including Lords and
Lemurs, Lucy's Legacy and Ringtailed Lemur Biology:
Lemur Catta in Madagascar is the scientific consultant
of the series.
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