The time is now
Lemurs are the most endangered mammals on Earth
about
Duke Lemur Center
Founded in 1966 on the campus of Duke University in Durham, NC, the Duke Lemur Center is a world leader in the study, care, and protection of lemurs—Earth’s most threatened group of mammals.
With more than 200 animals across 13 species, the DLC houses the world’s most diverse population of lemurs outside their native Madagascar.
Want to visit? We’d love to host you! Just note that tour reservations are required in advance.
Our Mission
To advance science, scholarship, and biological conservation through non-invasive research, community-based conservation, and public outreach and education.
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Visit the DLC Museum of Natural History tomorrow for our FREE monthly open house! 🤩
We're getting ready to go to the field to search for fossils! We will be looking for primate fossils in the Wyoming badlands 💀
Find out:
🔧What tools we bring to search for lemur fossils
🗺️How we know where to look for fossils
⛏️What happens when we find one
Then, come back for our July 25th Open House and see what we found! We will be unwrapping fossils fresh from the field 🦴 ... See MoreSee Less
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Photos from OLLI at Duke's post ... See MoreSee Less
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The family that plays together stays together 💖
Rodelinda, Johann, and their three offspring (Egeria, Albus, and Aurelius) are far and away one of the Duke Lemur Center's most playful families. This troop of Coquerel's sifakas is constantly engaged in wrestling bouts or spirited chases through the bamboo forest. Albus is best known as the DLC's resident class clown, but that's just what happens when you grow up in a goofy family 😝
Did you know that the DLC's colony of Coquerel's sifakas in the most successful breeding colony in the world of this species or any species of sifaka? The DLC owns and manages every member of this critically endangered species in human care outside of Madagascar. We've been successful enough with our conservation breeding program to send Coquerel's sifakas to other AZA-accredited institutions, and many of these facilities have seen their own breeding success based on DLC husbandry guidelines. If you visit a Coquerel's sifaka at a zoo near you, they're almost certainly related to the sifakas living in our colony! 🤗
📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less
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Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs Java Chicken, Sora, Swift, and Cooper explore two equally attractive enrichment items: a bottle cap puzzle feeder, and a keeper's phone! 😂
Have you seen this curious family at the front of our Nocturnal Building? Momma Java Chicken and her triplets live in one of the free-ranging rooms on the tour path side of the Nocturnal Building. All of the nocturnal primates at the DLC live on a reversed light cycle. Lights turn off during the day, allowing nocturnal animals like dwarf lemurs to eat, train, and explore while staff and visitors are on site; and lights turn on overnight, causing the animals to curl up in their cozy nests and preventing keepers from having to feed breakfast at 1am 🌙
🎥: Keeper Sarah K. ... See MoreSee Less
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Mongoose lemur Maddie and her boys show off different ways to get comfy in the woods 💕
Have you met Maddie, Clancy, and Duggan on a Walking with Lemurs tour? This mongoose lemur trio free-ranges in one of our forest enclosures and can often be found napping, either between stalks of bamboo or on the railing of the treehouse. They're not always active during tours, but if you're lucky, you'll catch a glimpse of Maddie's sweet smile or Clancy's toothy grin! 😁
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/wwl
Experience the magic in person by booking tickets on a Walking with Lemurs tour! Dates are currently available through the end of August, and September tickets will be posted at the beginning of July. Make sure to purchase your tickets in advance, as we cannot accept walk-ins ✨
📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less
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Happy Father's Day to ring-tailed lemur Schwepps, who's finally allowed to groom with his mate Liesl and their twin babies! 🥹
If you've kept up to date with Liesl and her family on social media or visited their forest enclosure during a Walking with Lemurs tour, you may remember that big sister Hedwig has been very protective of her momma and her new little brother and sister, chasing stepdad Schwepps away whenever he tries to approach. It seems that Liesl has overrode Hedwig's protectiveness and welcomed Schwepps back into the family, as keepers and guests have seen Liesl approach her mate to solicit sessions of mutual grooming. Enjoy these photos of Schwepps bonding with Liesl and the twins away from Hedwig's watchful eye 👀
Bonus photo at the end of Schwepps enjoying some solo relaxation 😎
📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less
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Happy Father's Day! Ring-tailed lemur Cirilla celebrates by making sure dad Stewart is clean and fluffy at the end of a day of free-ranging in the forest 💙
Send this to a dad or father figure to make them smile today! ☺️
🎥: Abby Flyer ... See MoreSee Less
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Eight-month-old Junius in his favorite position: upside down! 🙃
We can't believe Coquerel's sifaka Junius, the first infant of our 2026 baby season, is already eight months old! Junius is completely independent from parents Francesca and Remus, entertaining himself for hours on end, and his favorite activity is dangling upside down from the top of his screened-in outdoor patio. Both Francesca and Remus are relatively playful adults, so we expect that Junius will also retain his youthful energy as he grows up! 😝
📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less
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Liesl's infants finally have names... Meet the honey bee twins, Karl and Melissa 🐝🐝
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/karl-melissa
Keeper Becca, the family's primary caretaker, named Karl after Austrian scientist Karl Von Frisch, who won a Nobel Prize for his research on honey bees and their "waggle dance." Melissa shares her name with a mythological nymph who fed honey to baby Zeus (the inspiration for the Greek word for "honey bee"), as well as Melissa Dean, the DLCs longtime Business Manager. Melissa, who was featured in a Duke Today story highlighting her fight against breast cancer, has worked with the DLC since 1988 and plans to retire in the upcoming year, and the Curatorial Team decided to honor her decades of dedication by bestowing Liesl's daughter with her name 💖
We can't think of more fitting name inspo for these stripey, energetic little forest dwellers, or a more fitting week to share them with the public! #PollinatorWeek 🤩
📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less
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Happy #PollinatorWeek to the world's largest pollinators, ruffed lemurs! 🌺
In Madagascar, critically endangered red ruffed and black-and-white ruffed lemurs love feasting on fruit and nectar. When they stick their noses into flowers to snack, pollen sticks to the ruffed fur around their faces and gets transported from flower to flower. Many plant species rely on pollinators like ruffed lemurs to reproduce and survive. Threats of extinction don't just impact endangered species like lemurs, but the entire ecosystem around them 🌎
📸: Sara Sorraia ... See MoreSee Less
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