2006: The Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Species - Runner-up
Pete Oxford (United Kingdom)
Golden-crowned sifaka
It took a week of patient fieldcraft before Pete was able to relax a group of five golden-crowned sifakas - among the world's most endangered primates. 'I watched them for a while,' he says, 'charmed by their deft leaps through the trees and their stunning looks'. This individual came to a sudden halt and peered from behind the tree trunk. 'A wonderful moment of contact.' Discovered for science in 1988, this lemur gets its name from its contact call - shee-fak. Confined to dry forest in the Daraina area of northern Madagascar, it is critically endangered, threatened largely by deforestation and gold-mining. Recently, though, a Malagasy conservation group, Fanamby, has started to work with the local people to find a way for them and the sifakas to survive together.
Nikon D2x with 300mm f2.8 lens and 1.4x teleconverter; 1/125 sec at f5.6; tripod; flash.
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