Aye-aye (folklore)

The aye-aye is a native lemur species that inhabits the Madagascan islands. While already creepy looking in appearance, the native myths surrounding this bizarre creature somehow manage to make these primates even more disturbing.

The aye-aye is considered a harbinger of evil and death. It is said that if it extended its finger at one of its victims, that victim was killed on the spot. It's also believed that if an aye-aye was spotted making its way through a village, it meant that a villager was marked for death, and that the only way to save the villager from certain death was to kill the aye-aye that cursed him or her. It's even believed that an aye-aye would sneak into a person's house at night and proceed to puncture their victims' aortas with its middle finger.

As a result of the Natives' fears regarding these ugly primates, many of these animals are killed whenever they would ransack the Natives' villages in search of food. This led to the conservation of these creatures.