July 9, 2011

Taken from Duke Lemur Center’s Live Animal Curator, Andrea Katz’s annual report

Twin Nycticebus pygmaeus(pygmy lorises) were born in 2010, and a singleton in 2011, eliciting oohs and aahs by everyone who saw these most appealing infants. Both pairs were bred according to SSP recommendations, and also to meet our goal to maintain a loris species in numbers that allow for non-invasive research as well as captive conservation. The pygmy loris population in the U.S. is healthier than any of the other loris species (~75 animals, descended from 35 founders), and it is likely that we will be asked to breed another pair or two in the next year. All of the DLC’s pygmy lorises, except dams with young infants, are housed with aye-aye. The two species seem very compatible and have bred while in mixed species housing.