The time is now

Duke Lemur Center

1 day ago

Gisela's infant finally has a name... Meet Pomona! ✨

Three-month-old Pomona was named by Keeper Aiden, the family's primary caretaker. Her namesake, the Roman goddess of fruits and gardens, was a wood nymph. This little Coquerel's sifaka free-ranges in four acres of forest with mom Gisela and big brothers Silas and Arcadius. Pomona is quite a gregarious infant, eager to explore her surroundings, play wrestle with her brothers, and jump on and off of her mom's back. Just like grandfather Jovian aka Zoboomafoo, Pomona is a little leaping lemur who likes to bounce and play! 🥰

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/adopt

Want to keep up with Pomona as she grows from juvenile to young adult? You can symbolically adopt her mom, Gisela, through our Adopt a Lemur program! Adopters get quarterly updates on the family, as well as access to adopter-exclusive materials, printable photos, and more! All purchases contribute to the care and conservation of lemurs, so it makes the perfect gift to yourself or a loved one 💖

📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

3 days ago

No one gets more excited about fresh leaves than Coquerel's sifakas! 🤩

Whether it's mimosa, sweetgum, tulip poplar, winged sumac, muscadine grapevine, or anything else that's green and grows in the woods, Coquerel's sifakas are fiends for leaves! As folivores, they need to eat fresh leaves every day of the year to stay healthy. Sifakas who live at the Duke Lemur Center still need to eat leaves during the winter, so the DLC's husbandry team harvests and freezes plenty of winged sumac to sustain our sifaka population through North Carolina's colder months 🍃

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

4 days ago

Mongoose lemurs Maddie, Clancy, and Duggan enjoy a warm day of free-ranging in their forest enclosure ☀️

19-year-old Maddie, 18-year-old Duggan, and their 5-year-old son Clancy are a trio of critically endangered mongoose lemurs. They are one of three species inhabiting this particular enclosure, along with a family of Coquerel's sifakas and a pair of ring-tailed lemurs. While lemurs are very territorial with members of their own species, they don't mind sharing space with more distantly related species—as long as the sifakas don't get a little too frisky and start chasing the mongoose lemurs through the bamboo! We pair species that utilize different vertical space, so the sifakas normally forage higher in the trees than Maddie and family, while the ring-tailed lemurs are more terrestrial 🌿

📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

6 days ago

The aye-aye, a nocturnal lemur known for its distinctive tap-foraging technique, has become the unlikely muse for cutting-edge engineering research 🔍

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/researcher-ehsan

Dr. Ehsan Dehghan-Niri has been studying aye-ayes to unlock insights that could revolutionize non-destructive testing (NDT) technologies used to inspect aging infrastructure like pipelines and aircraft composites. NDT is a technique for evaluating the structural integrity of a component or product without impairing its functionality. NDT enables the inspection of machines and structures that are currently in use by allowing for routine maintenance and safety assurance over time without disrupting their service 🔧

Inspired by the aye-aye’s percussive foraging, Ehsan’s research uses biomimicry, simulation tools, and behavioral studies—learning from biology to innovate technology—to advance acoustic-based NDT techniques. “This is the value of looking at nature for engineering," says Ehsan. "The aye-aye’s tapping system has evolved and been optimized over tens of millions of years. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, for us to design a system like this from scratch in our lifetime."

Read more about Ehsan's research on our website or in the most recent edition of our magazine! ✨ ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

1 week ago

Happy 24th birthday to the incredibly distinguished Gratian 🥳

Coquerel's sifaka Gratian was born on this day in 2002 to parents Drusilla and Nigel. All four of Gratian's grandparents were wild caught in Madagascar, making him a very genetically valuable member of the genetic safety net for his species. He has sired eight offspring, two of whom currently live at the DLC (son Thrax and daughter Pax), and is actually a great-grandfather! Gratian is currently the oldest Coquerel's sifaka in the DLC colony. He is instantly recognizable by his underbite and pale yellow eyes 💛

Along with two current photos of Gratian free-ranging in his natural habitat enclosure, please enjoy these throwback pics of baby Gratian clinging to mom Drusilla and seven-year-old Gratian striking a pose 🕺

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

1 week ago

Mongoose lemurs Murray and Fernanda are enjoying the warm weather this weekend 😎

Nine-year-old Murray and three-year-old Fernanda are one of the newer breeding pairs at the DLC. Murray was born at the Sacramento Zoo, while Fernanda was born at Lemur Conservation Foundation, and both of them transferred to the DLC in spring 2025 to help contribute to the genetic safety net of this critically endangered species. This young couple enjoys cuddling up on a shelf, solving puzzle feeders, and finger painting together—though Murray usually does most of the art! 🎨

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center is with The Kratt Brothers.

2 weeks ago

Happy birthday to the late, great Jovian, the Coquerel's sifaka who played the titular Zoboomafoo on the beloved TV show 💙

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/zoboomafoo-effect

Few animals have inspired children and conservationists alike as profoundly as Jovian, the Coquerel’s sifaka who brought primate conservation into living rooms around the world as the star of the children’s television show Zoboomafoo. Born in 1994 at the Duke Lemur Center, Jovian’s charm and playful energy captivated audiences and made him an enduring symbol for Earth’s most endangered mammals 🌍

“His level of education to the world, the way he made people aware of what interesting animals Coquerel’s sifakas are—this rare, critically endangered species from Madagascar,” says Britt Keith, longtime DLC colony curator and Jovian’s primary keeper. “People didn’t know much about lemurs, certainly not the rarer species like the sifakas. Jovian brought that awareness.”

“We wanted kids around the world to know how great lemurs are and to get involved in protecting them,” says Martin Kratt, co-creator of the show. 27 years later, Zoboomafoo remains a testament to how storytelling, education, and a single lemur can change the world for the better.

Read more about the "Zoboomafoo Effect" on our website or in the most recent edition of our magazine, including a Q&A with Martin Kratt ✨

📸: Courtesy of the Kratt Brothers Company (1,6); David Haring (2-5) ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

2 weeks ago

This week, ring-tailed lemur Randy received some very special fan mail (and a belated birthday card) from some of his youngest adopters! 📬

Through our Adopt a Lemur program, a group of teachers adopted Randy as a mascot for their preschool class. The class learns about Randy and ring-tailed lemurs, makes their own versions of lemur paintings, and incorporates a plush version of Randy into classroom activities and lessons. They were generous enough to make and send Christmas and birthday cards for Randy, so we decided to let Randy and his family investigate the gift! We're so happy that lemurs like Randy can help teach kids about conservation and inspire the next generation of environmental stewards and animal lovers 💚

Want to symbolically adopt Randy (or another lemur)? You'll receive quarterly updates on their life here at the DLC, along with an adorable plush version of your adoptee to cuddle at home! Learn more and support the care and conservation of the world's most endangered mammals at lemur.duke.edu/adopt ✨

📸: Abby Flyer ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

2 weeks ago

Cassia's boys continue to grow! 🤩

The DLC's youngest Coquerel's sifaka, Cassia's male infant, is now two months old and getting cuter by the day! Meanwhile, big brother Radama the Great turned one year old on Easter Sunday. Cassia and Eustace's two sons are the great-grandsons of Jovian aka Zoboomafoo, making this family lemur royalty 🥳

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/adopt/ultimate/cassia-infant

Looking to be a part of Zoboomafoo's legacy and make a lasting impact on the care and conservation of this critically endangered species? For a tax-deductible donation of $20,000, you can symbolically adopt and NAME Cassia's infant! Sifaka infants born at the DLC typically receive ancient Roman names... and if you get stuck, the keepers who care for the family are happy to provide suggestions that match this little lemur's emerging personality. Visit our website to learn more at lemur.duke.edu/ultimate or email us at adoptalemur@duke.edu 💙

📸: Keeper Sarah K. (infant); David Haring (Radama the Great) ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

2 weeks ago

Y'all had some great guesses at identifying the lemur species from these 18th- and 19th-century artistic interpretations... here are the answers! 🎨

1: Jacques de Seve, 1783: male mongoose lemur
2: Lorenz Oken, 1843: aye-aye
3: Guerin-Meneville, 1833-1839: indri
4: Edward Griffith, 1821: black and white ruffed lemur
5: Johann Christian Daniel Schreber, 1795: gray mouse lemur (in the words of one commenter, a "not so micro" Microcebus)
6: Charles Catton, 1788: ring-tailed lemur (everyone got this!!!)
7: Edward Griffith, 1821: red ruffed lemur
8: George Edwards, mid-18th century: female mongoose lemur (one of the earliest depictions of the mongoose lemur—or, as its caption says, "The Mongooz")

Which artists nailed it, and which ones could benefit from some reference photos? Let us know in the comments! 😂 ... See MoreSee Less