5 facts about aye aye, the animal whose name should not be pronounced

The Madagascar lemur aye aye is the only species of the reconoci family and a permanent participant in the anti-rating of the most unpleasant creatures. Among the indigenous population of Madagascar, the aye aye has the worst reputation. It is believed that this animal brings misfortune, and the one who killed him will die soon. But all this is just superstition, and we want to tell you some real facts about this amazing animal.

The one whose name cannot be spoken aloud

Madagascarians dislike aye aye so much that their language does not even have a word for this animal. Or there is, but they are afraid to say it out loud, so as not to bring trouble. Scientists have not been able to figure out how the natives call this creature, although its existence has been known since the 18th century.

Moreover, there are no mentions of aye aye s in the folklore of the Malagasy, the indigenous population of the island. The animal has such a bad reputation that they did not even want to make it one of the evil spirits of the forest. It is such a local Voldemort.

Harmless, but extremely unsympathetic

Everything that they think and cannot say out loud about the little aye aye of the Malagasy is a treacherous slander. This is an absolutely harmless animal, whose body length reaches 45 cm and weighs 3 kg. Aye-aye has big bat-like ears and maniacal yellow eyes with a fixed gaze.

The most unpleasant in the appearance of the animal can be considered its paws with very long and movable fingers. They can cause a shudder just by looking at them. But the aye aye has a beautiful fluffy tail, reaching a length of 60 cm.

What aye aye taps is his

Aye aye are classified as omnivores. Their diet includes insects, nuts, fruits, mushrooms, and even growths on tree bark. When searching for plant food, the animal relies on the eyes and scent, but with insects everything is more difficult.

Aye aye looks for larvae under the bark using echolocation. The animal taps the wood with its middle finger and listens for the change in sound. Having found food, the little arm gnaws through the bark with sharp teeth and pricks the victim with the third finger. From it, it eats insects, as from an impromptu fork.

Slow reproduction

Despite their small size, aye ayes live long enough. In captivity, there are specimens that have successfully overcome the milestone of a quarter of a century.

But they reproduce slowly. The female gives birth to one baby every 2-3 years. Pregnancy in an animal lasts 170 days.

Babies depend on their mother for a very long time and feed on her milk until the age of 7 months. But even when they start eating on their own, aye aye children are reluctant to leave their mother. Young males stay near her for about a year, and females for up to two years.

On the verge of extinction

Unfortunately, there are very few aye ayes left in nature and the chance of meeting it for a tourist is negligible. The animal has long been listed in the Red List as endangered. In 1994, only 1,000 animals were counted in Madagascar, and about 50 more were found in zoos around the world.

To save the aye-aye, scientists settled several pairs of animals on protected islands where there are no people. This measure allowed increasing the population of animals, but it is not yet possible to say that they are safe. The main reason for the extinction of the aye ayes was the reduction in the area of ​​forests where they lived.