The little fellow in the picture above looks both scary and scared. Who is this? 

Meet Melisandre, a baby aye-aye born on August 13, 2019, in Duke Lemur Center, U.S. The weird-looking creature shares the name of the Red Woman, a witch character in the popular TV series "Game of Thrones."  She is the daughter of 23-year-old Ardrey and nine-year-old Grendel, and also the ninth aye-aye in the conservation center. 

So, what is an aye-aye? 

The aye-aye is a long-fingered lemur endemic to Madagascar. It is the largest nocturnal primate worldwide, weighing about 1.8 kilograms with a body length of 36-43 centimeters, and a 56-61 centimeter tail. 

Despite Melisandre's black color, it will turn to yellow or brown after growing up. 

Though a primate, the aye-aye has rodent-like teeth which keep growing during its whole life. In the picture above, you can also see that Melisandre has a super thin middle finger used for foraging. The aye-aye feeds on insects and larvae. It taps tree trunks to find insects, the tapping could be as fast as eight times per second. Then it gnaws a hole on the wood, inserts its thin middle finger into the hole, and pulls out the juicy grubs. 

The aye-aye can only be found in the island of Madagascar. It is listed as endangered species by IUCN. It was once considered as extinct in 1933, but rediscovered in 1957. The main threats it faces are habitat loss caused by logging and slash-and-burn agriculture, and more tragically, superstition. 

Some local residents believe that the aye-aye is a bad omen. Many aye-ayes are killed on sight, in order to "expel evil spirits." Some aboriginals even believe that the little mammal could kill people by penetrating the victim's blood veins with its long middle finger; even pointing someone with that finger could bring death. 

Certainly, all these superstitions are groundless. The aye-aye is no danger to humans at all. Now, the conservation of this species is mainly aided by Duke Lemur Center, where Melisandre was born. Today, as many as 50 aye-ayes can be found in zoological facilities worldwide, 25 in the U.S. 

According to the center, baby Melisandre will stay with her mother Ardrey for two to three years while she learns how to forage for food, build a nest and other aye-aye survival skills.

(All images via VCG)

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