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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.
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Don't forget to schedule a visit to our tour path this summer! ✨
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/onsite-tours
Looking for the most accessible way to visit the Duke Lemur Center? Check out our General Tours! These tours are open to guests of all ages and run every weekend from mid-May to September. You'll be free to wander the tour path at your own pace during a two hour period, and DLC staff educators and volunteer docents will be stationed at each lemur enclosure to provide information and answer questions. Tickets are $17 per person, with discounts available for students, seniors, military, and children 🤩
Want a more customized experience? Book one of our Private Tours! These tours are perfect for folks brand new to lemurs, aspiring primatologists, and everyone in between. Your guide will walk your group around our summer tour path, and they can cater the delivery to your group's interests and questions. The flat rate of $180 (plus tax) covers up to fifteen guests, so you're welcome to come solo or bring fourteen of your best friends, coworkers, or family members 🤗
We currently have tickets available to book through the end of June! Visit lemur.duke.edu/onsite-tours and click onto the specific tour's page to learn more and purchase tickets 🎟
📸: Abby Flyer ... See MoreSee Less
1 CommentComment on Facebook
Can't wait until I can. 🥰🥰
This is not an April Fool's prank—June tour tickets are now available to book on our website! 😱
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/onsite-tours
Immerse yourself in our Walking with Lemurs tour as you stroll through the lemurs' forest habitats! Our most popular premium tour is offered six days a week throughout our tour season, where guests ages 10+ can view two to three diurnal lemur species in this incredible natural setting. Spend 90 minutes exploring our multi-acre enclosures with your guide, and be sure to bring your cameras and phones—you'll want to take pictures! Visit lemur.duke.edu/wwl to learn more and book your tickets 🎟
Check out the "Lemur Tours" page of our website to learn more about the variety of tours we offer from May to September! Please note that you do need to make a reservation in advance to see the lemurs ✨
📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
Awesome
Amy Rhode
Happy #MadagascarMonday! Today we're chatting about one of our grassroots projects in the SAVA 💚
In 2024, the DLC-SAVA Education team initiated two new youth professional development clubs with partner communities in Andasibe-Kobahina. One club focuses on masonry, and the other on sewing. They plan to put their new skills to good use with ideas for small start-up businesses and community aide projects. This is a community-guided project to address a root cause of deforestation because a lack of employment opportunities often leads young people to sell forest products like wood and charcoal 🪵
The DLC's conservation projects in Madagascar are run exclusively on grants and donations. You can support our work today at lemur.duke.edu/donate. To learn more about conservation projects like this, visit lemur.duke.edu/conservation or keep an eye out for upcoming #MadagascarMonday posts! ✨ ... See MoreSee Less
1 CommentComment on Facebook
I love that yall do projects over there.
Coquerel's sifakas Eustace and Cassia take their relationship to new heights 🌿
While lemurs don't have prehensile (grasping) tails, they have powerful grips with their hands and feet! Like Eustace demonstrates in these photos, sifakas often dangle from their back feet while foraging in the trees, leaving their front hands free to grab leaves and pull branches toward their mouths 🙃
📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
Awesome.
"We are practicing for our auditioning soon for the new Le Cirque de Soleil lemur style" 🥰🫠
Enjoy some throwback photos of ruffed lemurs Buzz and Halley 😍
Happy Duke Reunion Weekend! Just like the Duke alums visiting Durham this weekend, we wanted to take the opportunity to reminisce. You may know red ruffed lemur Buzz from our Walking with Lemurs tours, and Halley's symbolic adopters might recognize this lovely black and white ruffed female as the ruffed lemur representative for our Adopt a Lemur program 💙
To all of the alums who booked tickets on our reunion weekend tours: we can't wait to see you! 🤩
📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less
7 CommentsComment on Facebook
Are you and my lemur friends in the path of the fires? Been worried about you all!
So cute!!
Hi to Buzz and Halley!
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Jujube trees? Yes, please! 🤩
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/jujube
We're excited to announce that we've added four special tree saplings to our food forest—jujube trees! Because jujube trees are low maintenance and don’t require pesticides or other chemical treatments, they are ideal for our ‘food forest’ organic garden. These saplings are expensive and well beyond our budget, but with help from DLC supporter Marilyn Grolitzer, Karen DiDonato from local business Nurtured by Nature Growers, and Janet at Edible Landscaping in Afton, Virginia, we were able to add four jujube trees to our growing food forest. As an animal lover, Janet enthusiastically agreed to donate the saplings, and Karen and her husband Chris helped transport the trees from Afton to Durham. We can't wait to see the lemurs enjoy the results of this wonderful collaboration! Visit our website at the link above to read more 🌱🍒
You, too, can help support the care and conservation of lemurs by making a donation to the Duke Lemur Center! Visit gifts.duke.edu/lemur to make your tax-deductible donation today 🤗 ... See MoreSee Less
5 CommentsComment on Facebook
These folks deserve a big round of applause!! So cool!💚👏💚
Thank you all for your generosity!
I thought the man on the left was that celebrity from Big Lebowski lol
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Leaping into the week with Coquerel's sifaka Gertrude ✨
Coquerel's sifakas, one of the critically endangered lemur species living at the Duke Lemur Center, move through the forest quite differently than most other species. They utilize a form of locomotion called "vertical clinging and leaping" when jumping from tree to tree, in which their bodies remain vertical but they can leap up to 30 feet horizontally. Sifakas have evolved splayed-out hips to aid in this special locomotion, which in turn makes quadrupedal walking (aka the way a ring-tailed lemur moves) very difficult. This anatomy is the cause for Zoboomafoo's signature bipedal hopping, which his daughter Gertrude demonstrates in these photos 🤩
📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less
16 CommentsComment on Facebook
Mila miaro tsika fa izy kara olo iany mafnartra
Why a precious gift of Mother of Nature
What fantastic movement!
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'Tis the season for fresh redbud 🌸
Whether they're out in the forest or nice and cozy in their indoor enclosures, lemurs love snacking on flowers! Now that redbud has begun to bloom, Keeper Sarah M. went out and cut fresh browse for the lemurs to enjoy. Featured in these pics are collared lemur Bijou, crowned lemur Hapi, Coquerel's sifaka Remus, and red ruffed lemur Hunter. While different lemur species have different diets, redbud is a favorite for almost all of the DLC's residents 🥰
📸: Sarah M. ... See MoreSee Less
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
Kudos to who ever takes the pics for this site💕 Excellent work, especially the closeups!
The buds, flowers, and seed pods of redbud are edible for humans too. I love that the lemurs get to enjoy this tasty treat!
🤩 THIS WEEKEND 🤩
Good news: we have the weather and staffing to run an off-season General Tour this Saturday 3/22! 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 18+ and $12 per person for ages 3-17 (children 2 and under are free) 🥳
We are also able to run off-season Walking with Lemurs tours this Saturday (3/22) and Sunday (3/23) at 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 $85 per person and open to guests ages 10+ 🤗
Tickets MUST be purchased in advance to attend! Tickets and information are available on our website at lemur.duke.edu/GT for the General Tour and lemur.duke.edu/wwl for the Walking with Lemurs tour 🎟
📸: David Haring; Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less
1 CommentComment on Facebook
Hope everyone has fun.
Baby season means birthday season, and our keepers love an excuse to make extra tasty enrichment for the animals! 🥳
Most diurnal lemurs at the DLC are born in March and April, so we've had lots of birthdays to celebrate in the past week. Featured in these photos are:
💙 blue-eyed black lemurs Hamill and Gellar, a breeding pair who were born just a few days apart in the same year, snacking on sweet birthday treats made of oatmeal, blueberry, and gelatin, topped with blueberry jam
💜 Licinius, the current oldest diurnal lemur at the DLC, who enjoyed a similar blueberry oatmeal cake but was mostly interested in licking the blueberry jam off the top
💛💛 ring-tailed lemur twins Merry and Eowyn, whose keeper threw them a Lord of the Rings themed first birthday complete with a birthday banner and a hobbit hole structural enrichment, eating a cake made of primate biscuits, banana, and maple syrup with a blueberry topping
🧡 Jones, who shares the same birthday as his mom Sprite and received a cake made of peanut butter powder, banana, and oat flour topped with grapes, blueberries, and fresh redbud flowers
You can help our keepers continue to make birthday season special by donating snacks and enrichment items from our wishlist!
www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/373AW0NFW38GY/ref=nav_wishlist_lists_1
📸&🎂: Keepers Sarah M. and Sarah K. ... See MoreSee Less
11 CommentsComment on Facebook
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all of these incredibly beautiful and wonderful sweeties!!🩷🩷🎉🎂⭐️🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷
Happy, Happy birthday!!
I did! 😍
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