May 7, 2013 — World, meet Hiddleston and Poots! The Duke Lemur Center is proud to announce the births of two blue-eyed black lemurs, one male – Hiddleston – and one female – Poots. Named for actor Tom Hiddleston, Hiddleston was born to mother West and father Hopkins on March 24, 2013. He weighed a healthy 82 grams at birth. Poots, named for Imogen Poots, was born on March 27, 2013, to parents Margret and Tarantino. Poots weighed 92 grams at birth.
Adult blue-eyed black lemurs typically bear singletons, although twins are also common, at least at DLC (two twin pairs born in the last 4 years). Gestation usually lasts 120-130 days: Margret was pregnant with Poots for 127 days. At birth, male and females have a similar color fur to their mothers, a bright orange-caramel color and have the characteristic crystal blue-grey eyes. Males typically begin to develop darker fur turning to black within a few weeks after birth, while female blue-eyed black lemurs will remain orange. Hiddleston already has a dark head and face with lighter fur on the rest of his body.
Both West and Margret are first-time mothers, and both are doing a fantastic job with their new little ones. The successful births of Hiddleston and Poots are vital to the conservation of this species. The Duke Lemur Center currently houses North America’s only breeding female blue-eyed black lemurs: West, Margret and Foster. These females hold the key to the conservation of this species of lemur because of dramatic habitat loss in the wild and the limited breeding population in captivity. With our expert care (and some very handsome blue-eyed black lemur males), we are hoping for many more babies in the future to continue to preserve such rare, beautiful lemurs.
- Critically endangered.
- Top 25 Most Endangered Primates list 3 times in a row.
- Habitat reduced by more than 80% within 20-25 years.
- Very high levels of exploitation from hunting and capture as pets.
- One of three primates with blue eyes.
- Only 3 breeding females in captivity in North America.
- Two of them just gave birth!
