The famous lemurs from Madagascar, "Indri Indri", known and illustrated in the movie "Madagascar3" as King Julien XIII, which are the largest in the country, are in critical danger of extinction, expert said.

In the report released from a six-day workshop ending Saturday afternoon, the findings are surprising. Among these 103 species in the island country, 23 species are considered critically endangered with extinction, 52 others in danger of extinction, 19 others vulnerable and three near-threatened while three others are classified as "least concern."

According to experts in primatology, the lemurs of Madagascar are among the top 25 most endangered species in the world. About 91 percent of the 103 species are currently on the "red list" of endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Deforestation is the main cause of endangerment of these primates, destroying the habitats of these lemurs. According to experts' estimate, 28,500 square km of primary forests were lost between 1992 and 2011.

The instability in the governance of the country since early 2009 also led to an increase in the high rate of loss of habitat for lemurs in Madagascar where the majority of non-humanitarian aid was frozen and funding for environment and conservation was suspended.

Moreover, this political instability has led to unprecedented levels of illegal logging and poaching of lemurs in almost all regions of the country.

The workshop also discussed the existence of the 103rd lemur species discovered in Marolambo if the 102nd was seen last December, which is called "microcebus GERPI", a small nocturnal lemur of 268 mm, found in the rainforest of Sahafina at Brickaville to 256 km east of Antananarivo.

It was Professor Peter Kappeler and his team of "German primate center" from Germany who have found this new species, but no morphological description or scientific name has not yet been awarded.

The workshop, which began on July 9 in capital Antananarivo, brought together some 50 experts and specialists of primates from the United States, England, France, Italy and others.

The establishment of a new conservation plan for lemurs has been discussed and the findings of the workshop will be presented at the International Conference of the International Primatological Society (IPS), scheduled in August in Mexico, for the purpose of funding the conservation of Malagasy lemurs, according to the organizers.