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 14 species, the DLC houses the world’s largest and 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
The Lemur Games are a great way for us to show off the creative enrichment that happens every day at the DLC, even when the cameras are off!
Daily enrichment is an essential part of animal care and promotes curiosity, exploration, and mental stimulation. Behavioral-based enrichment encourages lemurs to act and behave as they would in the wild.
Learn more about the value of enrichment and hear from our Curator of Behavioral Management, Meg Dye, at lemur.duke.edu/games. ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
Team Eulemur!!! ❤️
I love nature.
Congratulations to Harriot for securing the first gold medal of the Lemur Games for Team Varecia! Her toe-strength in the first event sealed the deal, even beating tiny Pharoah and his hard-working mom, Seshat.
Named after astronomer Thomas Harriot, this black and white ruffed lemur has officially landed among the stars. 🌟
We will have the second event coming up soon, but in the meantime, check out lemur.duke.edu/games for more information about why enrichment is so fun for our lemurs! ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
Congrats Team Varecia and Harriot! Even as a Team Eulemur family, we know that she was impeccable beyond compare. Love the Lemurs ❤️
Congratulations Harriot!!!❤️🥇❤️
Deanna King
Congrats Harriot!!! Well deserved!!!! Gold!!!!!
Congrats to Harriet & Valeria (my lazy favorite)!
Beautiful 😍
Outstanding effort! Do it for the team!
Clear winner! Her toe and core strength was amazing. Wish I could hang like that! 🙂
Congrats 🎈🍾 Way to go!!!!!🤗🤗🤗
Well played, Harriot, well played!
I knew it would be Varecia!
💕💕💕👍🏽👍🏽🏆🏆🏆
She is a ‘10’!
View more comments
One of our diurnal species is sitting out of this year’s #LemurGames: the ring-tailed lemurs!
Why? They are just having too much fun in the forest!
Most of our ring-tailed lemurs (like Atticus here) are free ranging in Natural Habitat Enclosures. These forest-dwelllers don’t get the same enrichment as lemurs who live in other spaces, so we can’t compare their technique during the enrichment challenges. ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
I was wondering why the ring-tails didn't send a team to the Games!
I thought maybe they went pro and disqualified themselves.
Wonder which team they’d be rooting for… Which team is the closest to ringtail behaviours?
Handsome devil has quite the grip in that branch ❤️
The first event of our Lemur Games has it all: an infant, a cheater, and the strongest toes you’ve ever seen! 😯🥇
A representative from Team Sifaka, Team Eulemur, and Team Varecia was given balance enrichment in the form of a recycled bicycle tire with Kong-style feeders filled with leaves or dried fruit.
Since each group of lemurs is so different from one another, they each approached this challenge differently. Comments will decide who takes home the gold from this round. Watch all three approaches and put your favorite in the comments!
If you are on other social media, you can also vote on Twitter and Instagram for a total of three votes for each event. Learn more at lemur.duke.edu/games. ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
We vote for Harriot!!
Harriot brought it.
A friend who is not on Facebook also votes for Harriot.
Also voting for Harriot! She was on point!
Harriot!
Christa Stahel : ❤
I go with Harriot too....
Lance Atkinson gotta pull for Pharaoh!
Want to vote for Pharaoh (my new favorite) but Valeria is cute being lazy (like I can be), so my vote is with Team Sifaka for today. 2nd would be for Pharaoh hanging on while his mother climbs/jumps is a close 2nd!
It's impossible to choose a winner because they each are amazing teams with their own set of nuanced skill sets.
Team Sifaka...work smarter, not harder 😁
Thanks so much for the video! We needed the amusement. :)
I think Harriot from Team Varecia was the one that did the task in a way that was closest to what you where looking for, so I vote for the Valecias! But really I loved all the approaches 😁😆
I liked the out of the box approach of team Sifaka. Gotta love the announcers, Lee and Mur! love it, thanks DLC!
All the teams are Great but Harriot for sure!
If it was College Bowl, I would go for Team Sifaka…. But it’s The Lemur Games, so have to give this round to Team Varecia. Team Eulemur get’s the Congeniality Award.
Team Varecia!
Why travel to Tokyo!!
Woooooo, go Team Eulemur!
Loving Lemurlympics!!!! This round goes to Team Varecia. Harriot was amazing!!! Pharoh is adorable and seals the Silver for the Crowns.
Team Varecia! 🙌 Well done, Harriot! 😃
I really wanted to give it to team Sifaka (they are my favorite...after the aye-ayes), but I have to agree that Harriot was definitely the winner of this challenge!
Based on balance alone Team Varecia!
Staff, nice enrichment devices! Lemurlympics, enrichment for the staff as well....
Harriot with Team Varecia, for balance, toe strength, and a nice dismount! They all win on charm and cuteness, with Pharaoh leading in that category.
View more comments
Let's meet the teams competing in the Lemur Games! Each team represents one group of lemurs. During the competition, we will give a representative from each group the same enrichment challenge so we can compare how each type of lemur uses their unique skills of balance, agility, and cognition.
Click or tap on each photo to meet each team!
Learn more about the Games at lemur.duke.edu/games. ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
. . . LEAPING LEMURS!!! . . . .
By now, I think everyone knows I cannot pick favorites. So I am going with all teams. As Karen posted, #teamlemur or #teamDukelemur
I’m rooting for all of them!! #teamlemur
This is brilliant!
So exciting!!!
Can’t wait for the fun to begin!
No ringtails?
View more comments
Welcome to the Lemur Games!
Join torchbearers Kidman, Pompeia, and Borealis as they help kickoff our two week-long celebration of lemur agility, balance, and cognition!
Enrichment Technician Kate created our very own set of rings using recycled bicycle tires and fleece strips so our forest-dwelling animals could join in the fun. Enrichment keeps lemurs happy and healthy, and it fun for humans too!
Our first event will begin Tuesday, July 27th. Make sure you are following our social media pages to vote for which group of animals you think tackles the challenge the best. Are you supporting sifakas, ruffed lemurs, or the eulemur group? Undecided? We will be posting team profiles later this weekend so you can get to know the competitors. May the best lemurs win 🔥🥇
Learn more about the value of enrichment and the fun to come at lemur.duke.edu/games. ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
Looking forward to it. I have too many favorites to pick a team, as mentioned each time I choose a new one (poor Clancy was only my favorite for a short time, Pharaoh arrived sooner then others)...but Clancy, Felix, Coconut Palm, Agatha, Melisandre, Winnie, and all the others are still favorites. I look forward to watching (unlike the real Olympics, more of a racing fan).
What fun!!!!
Greyson and I are watching this. We enjoyed your Olympic video.
Love it!
How delightful!! I’ll be following 🤗🤗👏👏
Team Varecia!!
Team Mouse Lemur! Tiny but strong, fiesty, and cranky!❤😆
That girl is so creative and fun.
Is Kidman a Blue-eyed Black, by chance?
Love this.. Thank you.
Let the games begin!
What great gymnastics.
Timmy Keele
@ti
View more comments
🎉 THANK YOU DONORS! 🎉
We are thrilled to announce that we have purchased a new dental machine, fully funded by your generous donations! Thanks to everyone who participated in our Give $10 for Teeth campaign, lemurs like Agatha here will continue to receive great emergency and routine oral care. A healthy mouth helps make for a healthy lemur and we couldn't do it without you. 💚 ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
Yay. Makes me so happy..
Yes we did!
What's the only thing that can make a Friday better? A new baby lemur! 👑💚
Meet Pharaoh, a crowned lemur born May 8th to parents Seshat and Zuberi. Pharaoh and his entire family will be competing in next week's Lemur Games, proudly representing Team Eulemur! ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
Pharoah is just everything! Wishing him and his family the best next week.
Makes every dat better! What a precious baby!
Looks like Pharaoh may be taking Clancy's place as my new favorite..lol He is just so cute! Welcome to the Duke World Pharaoh!
Welcome sweetheart!
So cute! 😍
So happy to see new arrival❤️
So cute
Oh he is too cute!
Lisa Gillard
Elisabeth Joy
View more comments
This week, we are celebrating #ZookeeperAppreciationWeek! Ever wonder what a lemur keeper does all day? Check out all of the glamorous and not-so-glamorous parts of their job in this Day in the Life video!
We are so grateful for all the hard work keepers put in to care for the 200+ animals that call the DLC home. Thank you! ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
Thanks to all the DLC keepers! Without them we would not see all the adorable lemurs! Great work by all!
This looks like it would be such an amazing, fulfilling job. Thank you so much for helping keep these animals safe and healthy.
Happy #ZookeeperAppreciationWeek! We're grateful to all lemur keepers in particular! We hope to have them in Madagascar whenever possible and see lemurs in their true natural habitat (montane rainforests, dry forests, spiny forests...)
Great job everyone!!!
thank you to all who care for these lovely creatures.
Thank you for sharing
Thanks for your hard work everyone!
Thank you so much for everything you do!!
Good job you guys work hard thanks
Brad McKenzie
View more comments
When you live with a big family of fat-tailed dwarf lemurs, you gotta eat fast!
Our smaller nocturnals eat the same primate chow, fruits, and vegetables as our larger diurnal animals, cut into bite sized pieces for their smaller mouths. While every lemur gets their own portion, siblings will often steal food from bowls that don't belong to them. Keepers spread out their meals around their enclosure and routine weight checks make sure every animal is getting the nutrition they need.
Learn more about this species at lemur.duke.edu/fat-tailed-dwarf-lemur! ... See MoreSee Less
Comment on Facebook
Adorable
So much adorableness..is that a word ??
Adorable!
They are fabulous
💕💕💕
Fabulous Cheirogaleus
so cute!
View more comments