PORT ANGELES — CageworX Mixed Martial Arts will offer a family-friendly class this Sunday to learn about the endangered lemur species of Madagascar.
Limber for Lemurs Educational Yoga will be from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. at CageworX Mixed Martial Arts, 508 W. Eighth St.
Admission is by donation, with proceeds benefiting lemur conservation efforts, organizers said.
The class also will be lived-streamed over the Internet.
The class will be led by Karlyn Langjahr, a Port Angeles marine conservationist and yoga instructor.
“Learn about the most endangered group of primates in the world using movement, yoga stretching and play,” Langjahr said.
“Bring your children or inner child and invoke your curiosity and connect our global natural world. Learn about different lemur species and be transported to the island nation of Madagascar where they live.”
Endangered species
Of the 101 lemur species, 22 are critically endangered, 48 are endangered and 20 are vulnerable, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species as published by the BBC in 2015.
Langjahr said she has a passion for primates, and lemurs in particular.
“They’re my favorite group of primates if I have to pick one,” she said.
“My love for primates grew out of living in tropical landscapes with various species as neighbors — howler and spider monkeys — while living in Panama as a Peace Corps volunteer.”
Langjahr said she interacted further with primates such as the red colobus monkeys in Zanzibar where she worked for a couple of years and had the opportunity to host Jane Goodall for her 50th anniversary celebrations of chimpanzee research and tarsiers while conducting research in the Philippines.
For more information about the event, email karlyn.langjahr@gmail.com, call 360-775-5254 or visit www.facebook.com/limber4lemurs.
Donations also are accepted at www.crowdrise.com/limber-for-lemurs.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
