Madagascar

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In 'Largest Ever' Effort, 1K Trafficked Animals Head Home

Endangered lemurs, tortoises are being sent back to Madagascar from Thailand in anti-trafficking bust

(Newser) - Nearly 1,000 "highly endangered" animals are heading back home to Madagascar, thanks to what CNN calls the "largest ever" repatriation initiative between the African nation and Thailand. The news outlet reports that an anti-trafficking police raid in May in the Thai province of Chumphon turned up 1,...

Tragedy Hits Opening of Indian Ocean Island Games

At least 12 died in crowd crush in Madagascar

(Newser) - At least 12 people died in a crush at a stadium in Madagascar on Friday as sports fans gathered for the opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games, local media reported. The reports said Prime Minister Christian Ntsay announced the deaths. He said around 80 others had been injured,...

Official Swims 12 Hours to Safety After Helicopter Crash

Madagascar minister describes his exhaustion

(Newser) - As government officials traveled to inspect the site of a shipwreck that left at least 39 dead Monday off the Madagascar coast , the helicopter they were in crashed. The country's police minister, Serge Gelle, was rescued Tuesday after swimming for 12 hours, the BBC reports. In comments made while...

Reptile That Fits on Fingertip May Be World's Smallest

It could take years to confirm that Madagascar's 'Brookesia nana' chameleon is the tiniest

(Newser) - It fits on a human fingertip, but this chameleon could make a big splash. Scientists from Madagascar and Germany say a newly discovered species of chameleon is a contender for the title of world's smallest reptile, the AP reports. Frank Glaw, who was part of the international team of...

Lizard Finally Turns Up, 100 Years Later

Living specimens of Voeltzkow's chameleon are found in Madagascar

(Newser) - Talk about good camouflage! Scientists say they have found an elusive chameleon species that was last spotted in Madagascar 100 years ago. Researchers from Madagascar and Germany said Friday that they discovered several living specimens of Voeltzkow's chameleon during an expedition to the northwest of the African island nation....

$2M Candy Order Turns Bitter for Top Official

Madagascar's education minister is even out of a job

(Newser) - Which idea will get your country's education minister fired? A) Giving school children an untested coronavirus remedy. B) Planning to order more than $2 million in candies to cover the remedy's "bitter" taste. If you guessed B, you know why Madagascar's education minister, Rijasoa Andriamanana, is...

Cops: Student's Fall Out of Plane Was Intentional

Pilot, passenger struggled to hold onto Alana Cutland, 19, over Madagascar: cops

(Newser) - A British student at Cambridge who was studying crabs along the Madagascar shoreline for an internship has plummeted to her death from a plane, and authorities say it looks like it wasn't an accident. The Sun reports Alana Cutland, 19, fell from the Cessna-style light aircraft last week as...

15 Dead, 80 Injured in Madagascar Concert Stampede
15 Killed in Concert Stampede
Jun 27, 2019 4:43 AM CDT

15 Killed in Concert Stampede

Tragedy hit during Madagascar independence celebrations

(Newser) - A stampede at a concert in Madagascar's capital by a popular singer killed at least 15 people Wednesday night. Just before the start of an appearance of the artist Rossy, the crowds surged, causing the deaths from trampling, said the national police. Some 80 people were injured. "The...

Scientists Find Source of Worldwide Mystery Hum

It's likely a massive underwater volcano, they say

(Newser) - Hear about a strange underwater hum that went 'round the world? Neither had we, but scientists say they've found the likely source: a huge underwater volcano off the coast of Africa, LiveScience reports. Rising half a mile from the ocean floor and three miles across, the volcano apparently...

Measles Outbreak Kills 1,200
Measles Outbreak Kills 1,200
Apr 14, 2019 11:17 AM CDT

Measles Outbreak Kills 1,200

Parents line up to get their children vaccinated

(Newser) - Babies wail as a nurse tries to reassure mothers who have come to vaccinate their children against a measles outbreak that has killed more than 1,200 people in Madagascar, the AP reports, where many are desperately poor. The island nation faces its largest measles outbreak in history, with cases...

On Island Nation, Measles Has Killed 1.2K

Madagascar has faced more than 115K cases since outbreak began in September

(Newser) - Babies wail as a nurse tries to reassure mothers who have come to vaccinate their children. They fear a measles epidemic that has killed more than 1,200 people as Madagascar faces its largest measles outbreak in history and cases soar well beyond 115,000, but the AP reports that...

US Diplomat Found Dead in Madagascar

A suspect has been detained, State Department says

(Newser) - "A suspect is currently in custody." That, and a few sparse details, is all that State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert would offer Monday night on the death of an unnamed US diplomat on the island of Madagascar, NBC News reports. "We are deeply saddened to confirm that...

Most Endangered Primate in World Found on Huge Island

In Madagascar, 95% of lemurs are under the threat of extinction

(Newser) - What are the most endangered primates in the world? The answer may not be the one you expect: lemurs, according to an analysis by a group of conservationists known as the Primate Specialist Group. The animals are found only in Madagascar (and on a few neighboring islands), and 105 of...

Museum Shocked to Discover Giant Egg in Collection Is Real

It's one of fewer than 40 elephant bird eggs held by public institutions

(Newser) - The Buffalo Museum of Science has been sitting on a rare find. A collections manager with the museum discovered an elephant bird egg nestled away in a cabinet for more than half a century and erroneously labeled as a cast. The egg is 1 foot long, more than 2 feet...

'Chaos' in the Rainforest Over Madagascar's Precious Gems

Environmental group is calling for military intervention over sapphire rush

(Newser) - A sapphire rush has brought tens of thousands of people into the remote rainforests of eastern Madagascar, disfiguring a protected environmental area and prompting calls for military intervention, the AP reports. More high-quality sapphires have been found in the biodiverse area known as Corridor Ankeniheny-Zahamena in the past six months...

Vanilla Ice Cream Getting Way More Expensive

Thank Madagascar's bad crop year

(Newser) - America's favorite ice-cream flavor is getting a lot pricier and could be challenged by cheaper, synthetic knock-offs. We're talking about vanilla, which became 150% more expensive last year after Madagascar suffered a poor harvest, Munchies reports. Cakes, soft drinks, and perfumes could all be affected, but ice cream...

Plane Debris Washes Ashore, Eyed for Links to MH370

'It is way too soon to say'

(Newser) - Debris has washed up on an island in the Indian Ocean and is raising hopes that the fate of the Malaysian passenger jet that vanished last year might finally be known—though it wouldn't be the first false alarm . A French aviation expert tells the Telegraph that plane wreckage...

UN Horns In on Explorer's Captain Kidd Claim

UNESCO also dismissed Barry Clifford's claim he found Columbus' Santa Maria

(Newser) - The United Nations is sending experts to Madagascar to assess a claim by underwater explorers that they had found treasure and a shipwreck belonging to the pirate Captain Kidd . Ulrike Guerin, a specialist in underwater heritage for UNESCO, said today that experts will examine artifacts at the site where American...

Divers Think They Found Captain Kidd's Treasure

Silver bar pulled from wreck off Madagascar, but it's not confirmed

(Newser) - There are all kinds of maybes involved, but an American explorer thinks he's found Captain Kidd's pirate treasure. Barry Clifford brought up a 110-pound silver bar from a wreck off Madagascar believed to be the Scottish pirate's flagship, the Adventure Galley, reports the BBC . Clifford presented the...

Bubonic Plague Returns to 2012's Worst-Hit Country

20 died last week in remote Madagascar village

(Newser) - Experts have detected the bubonic plague in a Madagascar village where at least 20 people were confirmed to have died last week. Though the disease is rare today, the Red Cross warned of a Madagascar outbreak in October, and 60 people in the country died from the disease last year,...

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