Scientists Join Forces To Save Madagascar Wildlife US: April 11, 2008 WASHINGTON - Leaping lemurs and crawling ants are part of a massive plan to save Madagascar's wildlife, using a new method that could be applied to other "hot spots" of biodiversity, researchers said on Thursday. Drawing on decades of field research about 2,315 species found only on the island nation off Africa's east coast, conservation scientists have mapped out a way to protect all these animals and plants, instead of concentrating on only a few and hoping that saves many of the others, too.