- Discover: Research
- Engage: Education
- Protect: Conservation
- Get Involved
- Support Us
- About
- Schedule Visit
- Donate
Search Our Site
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.
Our Mission
To advance science, scholarship, and biological conservation through non-invasive research, community-based conservation, and public outreach and education.
Facebook Feed
There’s no better cure for the Sunday Scaries than cuddling up in a basket 🧡
Crowned lemurs Aria and Mosi know the best way to spend a chilly afternoon! This species is sexually dichromatic, so female Aria is all gray with an orange “crown,” while male Mosi is all orange-brown with a black “crown” 👑
📸: Alanna M. ... See MoreSee Less
3 CommentsComment on Facebook
I think they want me to come snuggle with them 🥰
Love this photo 🥰
Ari and most are adorable.
Someone call the paparazzi... we've got celebrity impersonators in our midst! 😱
To celebrate World Lemur Day 2024, we compiled some celebrity look-alikes for our A-list lemurs. Here's a breakdown of our comparisons:
🧡 Buzz (📸: Sara Nicholson) as Ed Sheeran—the fluffy red hair says it all!
💚 Kiwi Bird (📸: David Haring) as Cynthia Erivo—the eyeshadow, the lip color, and even the food on Kiwi's nose where Cynthia has her nose ring... this dwarf lemur is defying gravity!
🩵 Eustace (📸: Sara Nicholson) as Steve Martin—the white hair, the kind eyes, and that hint of a smile ties these two sweethearts together
💜 Scout (📸: Sara Nicholson) as Aubrey Plaza—that deadpan look just exudes "don't mess with me" energy in both of these powerful ladies
❤️ Cardinal (📸: Sara Nicholson) as Travis Kelce—confident fan favorite with a fluffy buzz cut and heart of gold... and they both look dashing in red!
🩷 Aria (📸: David Haring) as Zendaya—the sassy head tilt, and the way Aria's "crown" matches Zendaya's killer brows
💙 Gertrude (📸: Sara Nicholson) as Zoboomafoo—nah, we take it back, we don't really see the connection... 🤭
Who do you think bears the most striking resemblance to their celebrity twin? Let us know in the comments! ... See MoreSee Less
10 CommentsComment on Facebook
Of course, with all of them but the last, the lemurs are much cuter than the celebrities!
Idk, that last ones a bit of a stretch
Nice touch with the last one
View more comments
Keep the World Lemur Day festivities going TOMORROW with a FREE visit to our fossil collection 💀🧡
Happy #FossilFriday! Want to get into spooky season with bones, bats, and lemurs? Come to the DLC Museum Open House this Saturday from 1-4PM! We’ll have a museum scavenger hunt and candy. Costumes encouraged! See what goes on behind the scenes at the museum as we chip away at the rock, revealing new discoveries every day 🔍 ... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Baby Agatha is here to thank all of the lemur lovers around the world who help us take card of these incredible creatures 💜
➡️ gifts.duke.edu/lemur
While today is World Lemur Day, you can celebrate lemurs EVERY DAY as one of our valued supporters who make our work possible! Please remember the DLC in your year-end gift planning and consider making a tax-deductible donation to help your favorite primates. Give now at the link above, or explore all our giving options at lemur.duke.edu/donate ✨
📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less
12 CommentsComment on Facebook
Happy World Lemur Day!
Thank you for the sharing the great pics and all the work the whole team does to care for these wonderful critters.❤️❤️❤️ (former volunteer-miss ya!)
Happy World Lemur Day to beautiful Agatha and all the gorgeous inhabitants and amazing humans at the DLC!! Thank you for educating, enlightening and entertaining all of us🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷
View more comments
Happy World Lemur Day 2024! 🥳
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/enrichmentquiz
Lemurs are intelligent, and because they’re intelligent, they can get bored. So, 365 days of the year, the DLC’s dedicated Primate Technicians provide enrichment to help ensure that our lemurs’ lives are interesting! Daily enrichment is an essential part of animal welfare to promote curiosity, exploration, and mental stimulation. Enrichment pertains to the provision of stimuli (usually to an animal living within human care) for the sake of exercising the animal mentally, emotionally, and physically 🧩
If you were a lemur, which enrichment items would you enjoy? Choose your favorite enrichment items in our new quiz, and we'll tell you which of our lemurs you're most like! 🤗
➡️ www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/373AW0NFW38GY/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_1
You can help provide enrichment to our lemurs this World Lemur Day by visiting our Amazon wishlist and shipping items directly to your favorite primates 💙
📸: David Haring (1,3); Abby Flyer (2) ... See MoreSee Less
6 CommentsComment on Facebook
#WorldLemurDay #NotAPet 💚 Save this endangered species. Thank you Dave Haring and Abby Flyer for the pics.
They are sooo cute - hoping to drive down to visit the Center this spring!
They are very intelligent. I am happy yall give them so much enrichment.
View more comments
🤩 THIS WEEKEND 🤩
Good news: we have the weather and staffing to run off-season Walking with Lemurs tours this Friday (10/25) and Saturday (10/26) at both 10:30am and a NEW TIME, 12:30pm! Tickets are limited, so make sure to grab them before they sell out. Just like during the summer, our Walking with Lemurs tours are $75 per person and open to guests ages 10+ 🤗
We are also able to run an off-season General Tour this Sunday 10/27! Like our summer General Tours, this tour is an open house format, and guests can arrive any time before 11:30am to walk around and see the lemurs. Because the lemurs' housing needs may mildly affect their visibility to guests, we are offering a discounted off-season rate of $15 per person for ages 13+ and $12 per person for ages 3-12 (children 2 and under are free) 🥳
Tickets MUST be purchased in advance to attend! Tickets are available for purchase NOW for the Walking with Lemurs tours at lemur.duke.edu/wwl, and General Tour tickets will be available TOMORROW AT 11AM on our website at lemur.duke.edu/GT 🎟
📸: Sara Nicholson (1); David Haring (2) ... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Baby Cirilla is six months old 🤗
Since Cirilla was born back in April at a mere 37g (compared to the average birth weight of around 70g), she's continued to grow day by day. She might spend most of her life on the smaller side, but what she lacks in stature, she makes up for in personality! 💕
Cirilla loves to jump and climb with her big brothers, Jasper, Mr. Popper, and Atticus. We thought it would be fun to compare our youngest ring-tailed lemur with her brothers back when they were Cirilla-sized! Can you see the family resemblance? Which of the boys does Cirilla look the most like? 🤔
📸: David Haring (1-Cirilla, 3-Mr. Popper, 4-Atticus, 5-Cirilla with one of her big brothers); Sara Nicholson (2-Jasper) ... See MoreSee Less
5 CommentsComment on Facebook
So precious! Her development is surely due to the great care she has received at DLC.
Aŵww cirilla has grown into a beautiful girl. ❤️❤️
Cirilla is gorgeous!
View more comments
Grab your headphones and open up your favorite podcasting platform—it's time for another episode of Aye-Aye Pod! 🎙
With nearly 40 years of experience working in Madagascar conservation (15 of which were spent living in Madagascar), Charlie Welch has an incredible wealth of wisdom to share. In this episode, hosts Megan McGrath (DLC Education Programs Manager) and Matt Borths (DLC Museum of Natural History Curator) chat with Charlie about the origins of the Duke Lemur Center’s conservation work in Madagascar. Then, they dive into the incredible story of 13 black and white ruffed lemurs that were released back into the wild between 1998-2001. You won’t want to miss this incredible slice of Duke Lemur Center history! 💙
Aye-Aye Pod is available for listening on all major podcasting platforms, as well as at lemur.duke.edu/about/aye-aye-pod, and new episodes drop each Wednesday! 🎧
📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less
1 CommentComment on Facebook
Awwww adorable.
Our bush babies started Trick-or-Treating a little early this year 👻
Kito and Flame Thorn went a step further than just ringing the doorbell—they climbed right inside the house! While meal worms and wax worms might sound like a trick to a human, they’re a tasty treat for our bush baby breeding pair 🪱😋
Note: Flame Thorn, the female in the pair, has a little shaved area near the tip of her tail. It’s just a harmless haircut to tell them apart!
🎥: Abby Flyer ... See MoreSee Less
5 CommentsComment on Facebook
So adorable peeking through the window🩷Such a great video!🎃
Happy Halloween to the bush babies!
I could watch them all the time !❤️
View more comments
Start the week off right with some handsome headshots of geriatric ruffed lemur Hunter 💛
This 28-year-old red ruffed male is the oldest ruffed lemur (red or B&W) currently living at the Duke Lemur Center. Hunter dazzled guests all summer in our tour path silos with his sweet eyes and pale red coat, and you can occasionally catch him hanging out (literally) in his outdoor patio on our off-season tour path. He lives with his granddaughter, 12-year-old Pandora, who's pictured in the last photo observing her granddad's photoshoot from the comfort of a cozy basket 🥰
📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less
6 CommentsComment on Facebook
Hunter is Beautiful. Such a sweet little thing.
What a sweetie. He looks very healthy.
28 and still the most handsome boy.
View more comments