Forbidden MADAGASCAR (What Documentaries Don’t Show You)

Forbidden Madagascar takes you inside the fady, the ancestral taboos that still decide what people in Madagascar can eat, touch, hunt and protect. In some villages the aye aye is believed to bring death, while at Lake Anivorano Nile crocodiles are protected like family.

From the Tsingy de Bemaraha stone forest to the famadihana, the turning of the bones that collided with the 2017 plague outbreak, we follow the twin taboo of Mananjary, dahalo cattle raiders, vanilla theft in Sava, the Ilakaka sapphire rush and Cyclone Gezani.

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Watch Next:
https://youtu.be/cQf7_Tu3IQE

Chapters:
0:00 The Aye Aye, the Fossa and Madagascar's Forbidden Rules
1:30 Masonjoany and the Fady Taboos
2:58 Lake Anivorano's Sacred Crocodiles
4:01 Tsingy de Bemaraha Stone Forest
5:22 Famadihana: The Turning of the Bones
7:18 The 2017 Madagascar Plague Outbreak
9:35 The Twin Taboo of Mananjary
11:43 Dahalo Cattle Raiders of Southern Madagascar
13:53 Mob Justice, Vanilla Theft and Ilakaka Sapphires
16:28 Cyclone Gezani and Cyclone Season
17:28 Deforestation and Sacred Forests
18:30 What Fady Means for the Aye Aye

Sources and further reading:
World Health Organization. "Plague: Madagascar". Disease Outbreak News, 2017.
Vieilledent G. et al. "Combining global tree cover loss data with historical national forest cover maps to look at six decades of deforestation and forest fragmentation in Madagascar". Biological Conservation, 2018.
Anania A. et al. "Unshrouding Narratives, Beliefs, and Practices Related to the Aye aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) in Eastern Madagascar". International Journal of Primatology, 2025.
Jones J. P. G., Andriamarovololona M. M. and Hockley N. "The importance of taboos and social norms to conservation in Madagascar". Conservation Biology, 2008.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre. "Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve".
Institute for Security Studies. "Cattle robbery threatens Madagascar's peace and security". ISS Today, 2018.

Credits:
Aye aye video footage by Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, CC BY 3.0, via YouTube
Aye aye, Tsimbazaza Zoo by Frank Vassen, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Wild aye aye by nomis simon, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aye aye Frankfurt by Elias Neideck, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Aye aye 2 by Tom Junek, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Famadihana photographs by MPMF24, CC BY 4.0 and CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Emeline Raholiarisoa en famadihana by MAURO Didier, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mozika by Eric rakotomalala, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mahafaly tomb by Zigomar, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mahafaly tombs by Salym Fayad, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Malagasy tomb with zebu horns by Moongateclimber, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Modern Merina tomb and Rova of Ambohimanga by Lemurbaby, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Tombeau Ambohidrabiby by Hopeandlink, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ambohimanga, Tombe by Heinonlein, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ambohimanga hill by John Parrett, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Painted Malagasy Woman and Woman wearing masonjoany by Rod Waddington, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Le masonjoany by Adansonia rayanne2, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Crocodiles of the sacred lake Antanavo by Crisufix and Litote19, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
La sacree Antanavo by Ambalavola, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lieu de culte au lac sacre Antagnavo by Larison202, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mananjary canal and view by Privatemajory, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mananjary street, port and lighthouse by Hardscarf, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nosy Be Hell Ville photographs and Ilakaka entrance by Anai171, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Boulevard Labourdonnais Toamasina by Privatemajory, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Tamatave rain by Paolo Crosetto, CC BY SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ilakaka by Bernard Gagnon, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ilakaka huts by Torbenbrinker, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Madagascar, Androy region by Kevin Gepford, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ambalavao zebu market by Wayne77, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Satellite imagery: NASA Blue Marble, Landsat WELD and VIIRS via NASA GIBS, public domain
Forest cover maps: Vieilledent et al. 2018, GPL 2.0
Map data: Natural Earth, public domain
Stock footage, music and sound effects: Envato Elements, licensed for this video