The AYE AYE is a native to Madagascar and looks a bit like a rat with big eyes. Although it looks like a rodent it is actually a primate, with a long middle finger that they use to reach into trees to look for food. It has huge ears for listening for grubs and other insect that might be hiding out in the tree trunk, to hear these insects they tap on the trees and wait for a response from inside. When they have located an insect they use their long rat like teeth to gnaw through the bark to get them as a woodpecker would. They use their long middle finger then to pull the insects out of hiding.

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The Aye Aye is the largest nocturnal primate and lives among trees they are great climbers and can jump great distances compared to its body size. Its hands are designed for grabbing onto thicker branches and it can hold its body weight with just one of its fingers. Like ground apes they live in nests but not on the ground they nest like birds high up in the tree tops away from any predators. They build their nests in the fork of a tree where the branches divide up to 500 meters above the ground. They spend most their lives up in the tree canopies but be rarely seen on ground level searching for insects.

These are a rare breed of animal and can only be found in the forests of Madagascar and no where else in the world. They can live up to 20 years of age and weigh up to 4lbs, their ears are sensitive to sound so they only hunt during the night when the forest is more quiet for them. Aye Aye’s are a dark brown or black colour and have a bushy tail that is bigger than their bodies. They use this long tail to balance themselves as they jump through the air enabling them to gain great distance and hit their target straight on.

Their diet consists of fruit and insects that are abundent in the rain forests and even though they have a constant food supply they have been placed on  the endangered species list. They have been put on this list because of hunters that kill them for fun and others take them from the jungle and sell them as pets on the black market. Even though they live high in the tree tops for most their lives they are still under attack from humans.

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