Durrell teams caught up in Madagascar cyclone

Conservation workers from Jersey Zoo have been caught up in devastation caused by a tropical cyclone in Madagascar leaving them without food, shelter or clean water.

Some of the worst affected areas on the island are home to projects protecting tortoises and lemurs, the zoo said.

Durrell's field programmes manager, Eleanor Harvie has called on people in Jersey to support its emergency appeal to help local communities recover.

She described the communities hit as the "backbone of [Durrell's] conservation work, without whom, efforts to protect animals would not succeed".

Madagascar has been hit by two major storms in February, cyclone Fytia and cyclone Gezani.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, and officials have described the aftermath as "total chaos".

Durrell said that two places badly impacted are the Baly Bay and Lake Alaotra Protected Areas - which are home to the ploughshare tortoise and Alaotran gentle lemur.

"The people affected are our community rangers, conservation partners and their families," it said.

"Families have lost their homes, crops have been washed away, and widespread flooding has left thousands of people displaced".

Facilities used to care for baby ploughshare tortoises have been badly damaged and will need to be rebuilt.

Emergency assistance has been delivered in collaboration with Jersey Overseas Aid, and Harvie said there was still a pressing need.

"We are urging anyone that is able to help to please consider supporting our emergency appeal. Every gift will truly make a huge difference to families who have been left with nothing," she said.

Durrell described the scale of the crisis as "overwhelming", and that conservation efforts were at stake: "These communities are the backbone of our conservation work; we have worked alongside these families for decades and without them our efforts to protect precious wildlife and habitats would not succeed."

The community is in need of basics like food, safe drinking water and hygiene supplies - along with materials for the rebuilding of homes, schools and health centres.

Durrell says it is looking to raise more than £50,000 to support relief efforts.

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