1. Occasionally, environmentalists warn the public of possible animal extinctions, unless the imminent threat is immediately .......... such was the case in the near demise of the Northwestern owl.

2. Now there is concern over one of the world's rarest mammals, the .......... Silky Sifaka in Madagascar, a Lemur threatened by loggers and hunters, with perhaps fewer than 100 still surviving.

3. An American researcher, who has spent years observing the primates in the Marojejy National Park on the island, is attempting to educate people about the .......... extinction of these animals.

4. Local villagers say the small animals, who weigh about 14 pounds, can .......... or float like angels through the treetops, and sometimes vault more than 12 yards from tree to tree.

5. The white lemurs are characterized by small pinkish faces, long toes and .......... big toes, which function similar to the thumbs of human beings.

6. An unusual facet of their group relationship is the sharing of parental obligations; adult lemurs feed not only their own off-spring, but any infant that seems hungry. They are so .......... the silkies seem to parent, eat and sleep high above the ground, rarely descending to the forest floor.

7. Lemurs do not adjust well to captivity, as most zoos are incapable of providing the unique diet the silkies require. Their daily menu consists of over 100 types of flowers, leaves, seeds and fruits that are .......... to Madagascar.

8. The most .......... action mankind could do for the silkies might be to leave them alone and not infringe on their environment. Unfortunately, loggers destroy the trees where the lemurs live, while others hunt them for food.

9. Most of the .......... creatures live within a wilderness preserve, but this does not stop timber poachers who wait until darkness to destroy their habitat, chopping down trees or setting fires to decimate the forest.

10. Unless the destruction of their habitat is halted, these little animals will join the ever-growing list of extinct animals, a .......... of those who insist there is overpopulation on the island.