WAMG Exclusive Interview With DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT – ISLAND OF LEMURS: MADAGASCAR

Morgan Freeman narrates the incredible true story of nature’s greatest explorers—lemurs. While shooting on location in Madagascar, the film introduces us to Dr. Patricia Wright, a primatologist devoted to the study and preservation of lemurs. I recently sat down with Dr. Wright to talk about her experiences with these wonderful creatures, the relationships that she has built, and her thoughts on modern zoos. Check it out below. 

Captured with IMAX® 3D cameras, the film takes audiences on a spectacular journey to the remote and wondrous world of Madagascar. Lemurs arrived in Madagascar as castaways millions of years ago and evolved into hundreds of diverse species but are now highly endangered. Join trailblazing scientist Dr. Patricia Wright on her lifelong mission to help these strange and adorable creatures survive in the modern world.

The first thing that I noticed while reflecting back on this film is that there is no violence, and that the mating rituals were not shown. I’m curious what was behind the decision to leave these things out while telling the story of the lemurs… 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Well, they aren’t very often violent to begin with. It’s partially the way lemurs are. They’re very relaxed most of the time. Of course, there are some issues that, at certain times, appear. But, those you saw that were interacting… there was a lot of little chitter chatter, and there were a lot of things going on, but they wouldn’t have really attacked each other.

What about animals hunting them, and outside factors? 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Oh! That’s a good question. Originally, I thought we were going to have a little bit of that. They shot the fossa, which is the main predator of the lemurs. There was a lot of footage of it, but there wasn’t… it just didn’t work out footage-wise. You know, I think, also, so many of the animal films now are just about that kind of violence, and animals are so much more than that. Especially lemurs. When a predator attacks, of course it’s a once in a lifetime experience, and it doesn’t happen often. It would be impossible to film it though, because that predator wouldn’t be around when those cameras are. That’s interesting. I didn’t think too much about it. Part of it, what Drew and David wanted to do, was to show the life of the lemurs. The personalities of the lemurs.

They did it so well. 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Didn’t they?

With a story like this, it’s so hard to actually know, when starting out, of where it’s going to take you. Were you surprised by how it unfolded, and how the story of the lemurs was presented at the end? 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : I think we all kind of were. A lot of serendipity in making this film. For example, that baby lemur… to me, that is one of the best shots I’ve ever seen in my life. That lemur yawning, and then at the end making his first practice call… I just couldn’t believe it. Now, they give birth once every three years. The chances of him getting that shot were pretty low, and yet, he did. So, there’s a little bit of serendipity in that.

How does your day start when you go about your searches? Do you have a certain routine that you go through each day? 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Oh yeah! Lemurs get up at about 7 o’clock in the morning, and the sun comes up about 6, so that means that we have about that much time to get to their sleep tree. We hope to get there before they get up, because we want to get what they do in the log. Then, I normally follow one focal animal all day long, until they go to sleep. By the end of that day, we’re really hoping that they’re going to go to sleep, because we’re talking about an eleven hour day. It’s like “Ok. Is it time yet?” [laughs]. For me, I just find great pleasure in following them through their day, and even though sometimes you think “Oh my goodness. Didn’t they just do that yesterday?” it’s really quite exciting, because you never really know what is going to happen. There are always interactions. You have large groups in there, and they are all interacting in one way or another. They’re mostly friendly, but we have our little squabbles, and things… and watching babies grow up… and old age studies that I was very interested in. Their older individuals are respected. Some animals drive the old ones away, but they don’t do anything like that. They just respect them for having more knowledge, like knowing where the fruit trees are.

Recently, I went to the LA Zoo. I’m from St. Louis, where we have an incredible zoo… 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Oh! You have a GREAT zoo! And great lemurs!

I have been spoiled, so seeing the conditions of the LA Zoo were a bit of a shock to me. I’m used to going to the zoo for education, and fun. I’m curious what your thoughts are about zoos as someone who studies animals in the wild? 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : Good question. That’s a good question, because I love animals when they’re wild. That’s where I love to see them, even though I’ve had a monkey as a pet, I really wanted to put… When I got my MacArthur Award, the first thing, I was in North Carolina, I build this huge cage, so they could go outside and really enjoy it. I didn’t want to lose them. That’s why I couldn’t just let them run around. I really have seen a change in zoos. In some zoos. When I was young, it was a very negative experience because they were in tiny little cages, and there was one group of each species… and they just didn’t have enough space to really be themselves, or form family groups, or anything… I’ve seen a big change. It started in the 80’s, and these zoos have really taken it on themselves to be a force in conservation. They have become a FORCE. The San Diego Zoo, the Saint Louis Zoo, the Chicago Zoo, the Bronx Zoo and the Metro Zoo in Miami… we have some really wonderful zoos now. They put a lot of money into saving the habitat, and saving the animals of the wild. This never used to happen before. It’s just really made a difference, and it makes a difference to those of us who were out there in the rainforests trying to save the habitat, because we team up with zoos. I have this little tiny zoo in Rochester, New York called Seneca Park Zoo, and they’ve taken us as their mascot. They come over to see the lemurs, and they bring zookeepers, and they raise money for us. It’s a wonderful relationship.

With how often you are in the forest with them, how long does it take them to approach you? 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : See, now we’re old friends. Very often, I mean… I’ve been studying their grandparents, so they’re used to that. In the beginning, that was different. It was not easy to get them to trust. I think the Greater Bamboo Lemur was actually the hardest. It took me, maybe, three to five months. With the Bamboo Lemurs, it actually took me years. Finally, one day, they decided to trust me. After that, they said “Ok. We’ll be there. You’ll be here. It’s fine.” and then they just go about doing their own thing, and that’s a wonderful feeling. When you aren’t chasing them anymore. They’re them and you’re you. You both have your things to do. That’s a wonderful feeling. I love that. I had, just, an incredible experience last January. So, now I have tourists. We have lots of tourists, and we were observing one of the groups that I had studied… Group 1… so I, kind of, stood back. I wanted to see them but they had all of these tourists around them. Tourists go home for lunch. It was about 12 noon, and all of the tour guides took the tourist’s home and left. All of a sudden the animals, who were way up high in the trees for all this time – I had been watching them for about two hours as tour groups came – some of the animals just came right down and sat right next to me. I realized, they know who I am. Sometimes you wonder, but they know who I am. It was so sweet. They were just sitting there, grooming. I’m not a tourist. I’m one of your family. [laughs] It was great.

You mentioned building the cage as a habitat for your pet. What are your thoughts on primates as pets? 

DR. PATRICIA WRIGHT : I don’t think they make good pets. I just didn’t know that at the time. I didn’t realize that it is so hard to keep them in captivity, and to keep them happy. That’s one of the reasons that I’m a primatologist. I would so much rather go into their place, rather than have them come into mine. I learned that. My advice is that anyone can come out to watch them in the wild. All primates are just wonderful animals. Costa Rica is far away, and Madagascar is really far away, but I’m hoping more and more people come now to see them.

FOR MORE INFO : http://islandoflemurs.imax.com/

ISLAND OF LEMURS : MADAGASCAR is playing Exclusively in Select IMAX® And IMAX 3D Theatres now