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Duke Lemur Center

2 days ago

Coquerel's sifaka Carlo loves to soak up the sun ☀️

Did you know that Coquerel's sifakas have evolved splayed hips? Unlike our hips, which point forward, the ballerina-style splay in sifakas' hips helps them grip onto trees when hopping through the forest. They're also responsible for the sideways bipedal hopping that sifakas are known for, as walking quadrupedally would be difficult given the orientation of their hips 🤗

📸: Sarah K. ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

4 days ago

Celebrating this #ThrowbackThursday with baby photos of some lovely blue-eyed ladies 💙

Orange is the new black! Blue-eyed black lemur females, despite their name, are orange—unlike their male counterparts. Enjoy these #tbt photos of Malala, Gellar, and Charlie, who have all grown from adorable infants into beautiful adults. These three females are also all part of breeding pairs here at the Duke Lemur Center, and their breeding is especially crucial to the DLC's ex-situ conservation efforts. Blue-eyed black lemurs are the most endangered species housed at the DLC, with an estimated fewer than 1,000 individuals left in the wild, so every infant born at the DLC or any other AZA-accredited facility plays an important role in creating a genetic safety net for this critically endangered species 🤗

You can make a tax-deductible donation to help contribute to our conservation work at gifts.duke.edu/lemur ✨

📸: David Haring (1,2,3,6); Sara Sorraia (4); Jen McCabe (5) ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

5 days ago

Eowyn and Merry were very excited about their fresh honeysuckle snack this afternoon 🌿

Now that Duke Forest is green again, our keepers have plenty of fresh browse to cut and bring to the lemurs! One-year-old ring-tailed lemur twins Eowyn and Merry seemed particularly thrilled with the fresh spring leaves and flowers 🌸

📸: Sarah K. ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

1 week ago

Coquerel's sifaka siblings Albus and Egeria enjoy fresh redbud flowers in their outdoor patio 🌸

Albus, Egeria, and the rest of their family are getting ready to free-range in one of our forest enclosures this summer! In preparation, they are participating in recall training, aka learning to come inside at the sound of a "dinner" bell. Recall training is part of our positive reinforcement training program, teaching the lemurs to participate in their own welfare through rewards (aka snacks) when they complete a desired behavior. Responding quickly and routinely to a bell is not only a convenient way to get the lemurs into their indoor enclosures at the end of the day—it's an important safety measure for the DLC's free-rangers. In the event of a sudden turn in weather or other emergency situation, our staff are able to ring the bell to efficiently call the lemurs back into the buildings and lock them safely inside 🔔

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

2 weeks ago

Looking for an in-depth look at the world of lemurs? Check out our Behind the Scenes tours! 😍

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/engage/onsite-tours/2022-bts-tour/

The Behind the Scenes tour is a private, customizable experience for groups of 1-4 guests that involves a look "behind the curtain" at everything that goes into caring for the nearly 250 primates in our colony. Your group, along with one of our expert educators, will check out areas off-limits to most guests, including the inside of our animal housing buildings, one of our small nocturnal colony rooms, and a peek at our elusive aye-ayes. This is also our most customizable tour—if you have a species you'd like to see, a topic you'd like to learn about, or a list of questions you've been dying to ask, our staff will do their best to accommodate your request and shape the tour to your group's interests ✨

Behind the Scenes tours through the end of June can now be booked on our website! 🎟

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less