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Article History

Received: 7 August 2018

Accepted: 10 May 2019

First Online: 17 May 2019

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: As these species are not kept in breeding colonies worldwide but fundamental research on them is urgently needed, it was necessary to study wild animals in Madagascar. The objective of the proposal research is consistent with priorities for Malagasy primate conservation: conducting ecological and behavioral studies to determine the identity and requirements of endangered populations and species. In agreement with German law, the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany, does not yet have an ethics committee to review field studies conducted in other countries. However, the research proposal was submitted beforehand to the appropriate authorities in Madagascar (Madagascar National Parks and the Ministry of Environment, Ecology and Forests), was evaluated by them in terms of goals, methods, and ethical aspects, and was then approved without changes (Permission no. 074/15/MEEMEF/SG/DGF/DCB.SAP/SCB, 130/16/MEEF/SG/DGF/DAPT/SCBT.Re, issued by the Malagasy Ministry of Environment, Ecology and Forests). It therefore fully complied with the legal requirements of Madagascar, the country in which the research was conducted by two Malagasy Ph.D students (MRE and AFH), and adhered to the Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines, the ethical guidelines of the International Council of Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Policy Statement on Research Involving Species at Risk of Extinction, and the Principles for the Ethical Treatment of Non-Human Primates of the American Society of Primatologists (ExternalRef removed).

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.