WTF Fun Fact 12833 – The Aye Aye: Animals Deemed “Demons”

The aye-aye isn’t a particularly adorable creature, but it is the largest nocturnal animal on Earth. It spends its entire life in the trees, but the aye-aye is also an animal unfairly labeled as a “demon primate” by some Madagascar locals.

What makes aye-ayes so creepy?

Aye-ayes were originally thought to be rodents because of their pointy snouts and rat-like front teeth. However, they’re actually a type of lemur.

These primates live exclusively in Madagascar, but locals tend not to be fans. Not only do the small creatures look a bit spooky, they have one long, witch-like middle finger that they use to tap into trees to look for food.

According to CGNT News (cited below): “The reason why this small animal, the size of a cat, is a “demon animal” to the locals might be because of its appearance. Its round yellow eyes in the dark along with its bony long fingers tapping on tree branches continuously resembles a cat that might have been bitten by a vampire.”

That’s certainly one way to put it! And it explains why people don’t always treat the animals kindly when they run across them. It’s believed that when an aye-aye points its middle finger at you, you’re marked for death. This leads some people to try and kill them on sight.

Why is the animal called an aye-aye?

The aye-aye’s name is also something of a mystery. CGNT posits that “One explanation of aye-aye’s name is that it derives from the Malagasy phrase ‘heh-heh,’ which means ‘I don’t know.’ If this is true, it could be that Malagasy people used ‘heh heh’ to avoid saying the name of a feared, magical animal.”

“Evil” and endangered

Because aye-ayes are considered “demons,” they’ve suffered from killings as well as the deforestation that affects other animals in Madagascar. Now, they’re an endangered species.

Of course, they’re a bit of a hard sell to help save because they’re not so cute and cuddly.

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Source: “Primates in jeopardy: the ‘demon’ primate” — CGTN