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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Mireya Mayor
Aired June 28, 2003 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I guess we've always known it, or at least you have heard it before, size does matter. National Geographic is documenting the discovery of one of the world's tiniest primates. It's called a mouse lemur. And it's about as big as your thumb. National Geographic's Mireya Mayor helps with the discovery. Her documentary airing tomorrow night. It's called "King Kong in my Pocket" and she is in Washington, good to see you.
MIREYA MAYOR, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER CORRESPONDENT: Nice to see you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, you take us on a journey through the Madagascan jungle during monsoon season, no less. Why there and why then?
MAYOR: Well, it's all about production dates. I wouldn't have specifically chosen the man (ph) season to go back. But we were looking for this tiny creature, trying to document, take photographs so that we could go back to the Maligash (ph) government and present them with the new evidence so that we could get the area created into a national park.
WHITFIELD: Now, you had first come across this lemur a year prior to this latest journey. Right? What were the circumstances then and why is it you were compelled to go back to find out more?
MAYOR: My colleague Dr. Ed Lewis and I had been working on the large lemurs, while we were in Madagascar, and we set out traps just to see what was in that area, and as luck would have it, one of the animals that ended up in our traps was this new discovery, one of the world's smallest primates, and it was completely brand new to science. And it wasn't until we got back to the lab that we were able to confirm our suspicions. It did look a little different.
If you were to see this animal running across your yard, you would think you were looking at a mouse, but when you hold it close, you can see that it has very human-like characteristics, it has forward facing eyes, flat face, five fingers, five toes, and so we were thrilled to learn this is indeed a new species to science.
WHITFIELD: Wow, that is tremendous. And so what have you since learned about this lemur and its relationship to other primates? How is perhaps it helping you better understand other primates?
MAYOR: What we are learning is how little we know about the primates in general. This is the 21st century, and it's exciting to make this sort of discovery. I mean, primates are our closest living relatives, and now we have a new one to add to the family tree. So this is a very big discovery, and it's going to help save a forest that's a home to many endangered animals.
WHITFIELD: And I imagine this discovery will help you save more of them as well, because I understand that their existence is very much threatened.
MAYOR: As it stands, only 10 percent of the forest, of the original forest in Madagascar remains standing. And so their homes are in deep trouble if we don't act quickly and start to protect these areas.
WHITFIELD: All right, it's called "King Kong in my Pocket." I love the title. That is so cute. And it is a National Geographic special. Mireya Mayor, thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate it.
MAYOR: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 28, 2003 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I guess we've always known it, or at least you have heard it before, size does matter. National Geographic is documenting the discovery of one of the world's tiniest primates. It's called a mouse lemur. And it's about as big as your thumb. National Geographic's Mireya Mayor helps with the discovery. Her documentary airing tomorrow night. It's called "King Kong in my Pocket" and she is in Washington, good to see you.
MIREYA MAYOR, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER CORRESPONDENT: Nice to see you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, you take us on a journey through the Madagascan jungle during monsoon season, no less. Why there and why then?
MAYOR: Well, it's all about production dates. I wouldn't have specifically chosen the man (ph) season to go back. But we were looking for this tiny creature, trying to document, take photographs so that we could go back to the Maligash (ph) government and present them with the new evidence so that we could get the area created into a national park.
WHITFIELD: Now, you had first come across this lemur a year prior to this latest journey. Right? What were the circumstances then and why is it you were compelled to go back to find out more?
MAYOR: My colleague Dr. Ed Lewis and I had been working on the large lemurs, while we were in Madagascar, and we set out traps just to see what was in that area, and as luck would have it, one of the animals that ended up in our traps was this new discovery, one of the world's smallest primates, and it was completely brand new to science. And it wasn't until we got back to the lab that we were able to confirm our suspicions. It did look a little different.
If you were to see this animal running across your yard, you would think you were looking at a mouse, but when you hold it close, you can see that it has very human-like characteristics, it has forward facing eyes, flat face, five fingers, five toes, and so we were thrilled to learn this is indeed a new species to science.
WHITFIELD: Wow, that is tremendous. And so what have you since learned about this lemur and its relationship to other primates? How is perhaps it helping you better understand other primates?
MAYOR: What we are learning is how little we know about the primates in general. This is the 21st century, and it's exciting to make this sort of discovery. I mean, primates are our closest living relatives, and now we have a new one to add to the family tree. So this is a very big discovery, and it's going to help save a forest that's a home to many endangered animals.
WHITFIELD: And I imagine this discovery will help you save more of them as well, because I understand that their existence is very much threatened.
MAYOR: As it stands, only 10 percent of the forest, of the original forest in Madagascar remains standing. And so their homes are in deep trouble if we don't act quickly and start to protect these areas.
WHITFIELD: All right, it's called "King Kong in my Pocket." I love the title. That is so cute. And it is a National Geographic special. Mireya Mayor, thanks very much for joining us. Appreciate it.
MAYOR: Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
