I had won a trip in a contest. I flew to Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. On a cliff was the huge wooden castle of an evil queen. She killed many of her people.

Then we flew in a tiny plane to Antongil Bay, up in the rainforest. There is a small island in the bay.  It is called Nosy Mangabé. Nosy means “island.”  A few years ago, scientists put some aye-ayes there to protect them.

It was raining and very hot.  We took a boat to the island and waited until dark. That’s when the aye-ayes come out to eat.

We walked up a muddy hill. We slipped a lot. Bushes brushed us.

Finally we were on top of the hill.  There was an aye-aye in a tree, tapping on the bark with its skeleton finger.

• • About aye-ayes

Aye-ayes have one finger that looks like a skeleton finger. They use it to tap on bark to hear if the tree trunk is hollow. Then the aye-aye chews open the tree and sticks in its skeleton finger to capture insects. Aye-ayes like grubs. They look like caterpillars.

You don’t have to be afraid of their fingers. Aye-ayes are very loving animals. They have huge eyes so they can see in the dark. They make great pets. But you can’t do that anymore. It’s against the law.

• • Why aye-ayes are dying

Aye-ayes are dying out. For many years scientists thought they were extinct.

One reason they are dying is because people kill them. They think if an aye-aye points at  you, then someone in your family will die.

They are also dying because people burn down the rainforest and plant crops.  Criminals cut the trees down and sell them because many of Madagascar’s trees are worth a lot of money.