Northern sportive lemur have large bacteria-filled ceca, which helps them to digest plant matter such as cellulose and break it down into sugars and starches. The northern sportive lemur is preyed on by the native Malagasy tree boa, which hunts the lemurs while they are sleeping in tree holes. Large birds of prey, Falconiformes and Strigiformes, are also natural predators of the lemurs. Along with these ecological threats, the arboreal lemur species are also highly threatened by human charcoal production, which still continues to remove the only remaining forest habitat of the lemurs, greatly restricting their range. "L. septentrionalis" is also illegally hunted
Human uses of birds from many people with differing perspectives. Among them, the society's science director, Gary Langham, noted that what is good for birds is also good for humans. The writer David Allen Sibley observed that birds bring a little wildness into parks and gardens. The writer Barbara Kingsolver noted that birds are part of life on earth. The actress Jane Alexander wrote "Birds remind us that there are angels." The forensic ornithologist Carla Dove noted that birds are biological indicators of habitat health, climate change, and the coming of spring. Birds have been seen as symbols, and used as such, though perceptions