Photo by Sara Sorraia. Cover design by Abby Flyer.
As 2024 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on the past year… and that includes selecting this year’s Lemur of the Year!
In a poll sent out to Duke Lemur Center staff, we asked for nominations for an annual Lemur of the Year award. Primate technicians, veterinarians, researchers, educators, and administrators were given the opportunity to nominate a lemur who, in the words of TIME Magazine, “most affected the news and our lives… and embodied what was important about the year.” After careful consideration, we’ve decided to name Coquerel’s sifaka Albus the 2024 Lemur of the Year.
One-year-old Albus follows in the footsteps of last year’s inaugural winner, blue-eyed black lemur Kidman.
“He has been the star of the tour season,” education specialist Ethan Moore wrote in his nomination. Albus, who was born in December 2023, spent the first year of his life on our summer tour path. Guests watched this little sifaka grow from infant to juvenile to young adult, all while maintaining his seemingly boundless energy and playful curiosity. His birth announcement was featured in the Duke Daily newsletter and on Duke Today, and he has been a consistent face on social media, extending his impact beyond the Duke Lemur Center. Visitors of all ages have cited Albus as their favorite lemur from their tour, introducing this critically endangered species to younger generations who didn’t grow up watching Zoboomafoo. Thanks to his prominent feature on the tour path, our plush Coquerel’s sifaka (custom designed for the DLC) has become one of the bestselling items in our gift shop and online store.
Albus is an active participant in both non-invasive research and positive reinforcement training here at the DLC. He has voluntarily participated in non-invasive research on infant grip strength, a study which might shed light on the evolution of primates’ grasping hands. Since the day of his birth, Albus’s mom, Rodelinda, has engaged in voluntary infant removal, allowing our primate technicians to remove baby Albus for vet checkups and routine weighings without stress to mom. As a young adult himself, Albus is now taking part in his own positive reinforcement training, providing him with agency in his own welfare. He has already learned how to voluntarily pose for a tail shave, which keepers use to help identify lemurs from one another in a family group.
Albus has brought joy to hundreds of guests, volunteers, and staff members during an often tumultuous year, and we hope to hold space for that positive energy moving into the new year.
Photo by David Haring.
