The Duke Lemur Center is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which means it meets the highest standards for animal welfare, health, and nutrition. To maintain AZA accreditation, the DLC must pass an assessment every five years. At our inspection in 2021, the DLC received an extremely rare perfect score.
As of November 2021, only four facilities had received a perfect score in the AZA’s nearly 50 years of accreditations. The DLC is proud to be the fifth.
“It’s highly unusual for a facility to go through our certification process without inspectors finding at least a few things that need to be addressed,” says Denny Lewis, AZA Senior Vice President of Accreditation Programs. “But in this case, inspectors found nothing but excellence, and zero non-compliant issues—a truly remarkable accomplishment!”
The Duke Lemur Center is also accredited by AAALAC International, which means it meets the highest standards for animal welfare, health, and nutrition for animals used in research. (All DLC research is non-invasive.) AAALAC-accredited institutions like the DLC help raise the global benchmark for animal well-being in science. To maintain AAALAC accreditation, we must pass an assessment every three years.
The DLC is proud to be the only organization in the world that holds accreditations from both the AZA and AAALAC International.
Look for the Logo
The AZA is the accrediting body for the top zoos and aquariums in the United States and 12 other countries. “AZA certification is considered the ‘gold standard’ within the profession,” explains the AZA’s Denny Lewis.
Fewer than 10% of the approximately 2,800 animal exhibitors licensed by the United States Department of Agriculture are AZA accredited. Look for the AZA logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium. This is your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals and a better future for all living things.
