Social Media

Duke Lemur Center

2 days ago

Sophia's twins are growing more inquisitive and rambunctious by the day 🤩

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/ultimate

Ring-tailed lemur mom Sophia has her hands full with two tiny, energetic daughters! Luckily, dad Randy is far more involved with the infants than most ring-tailed lemur dads. He can often be spotted carrying one of the babies, especially now that the girls are getting bigger and real estate on mom's back is limited. While the larger baby still clings tight to mom (or dad) most of the time, her smaller sister is a frenetic bundle of energy, hopping through their forest enclosure like she owns the place 💫

Think you have the perfect names for these tiny twin girls? With a tax-deductible donation of $20,000, you can symbolically adopt and name BOTH of Sophia's infants! Visit our website to learn more at lemur.duke.edu/ultimate or email us at adoptalemur@duke.edu. We're excited to hear from you! 💙

Note that this is a *symbolic* adoption with naming privileges, offered through the DLC's Adopt a Lemur program. Lemurs should never, ever be kept as pets.

📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

5 days ago

Start the week off right with gorgeous photos of this gorgeous mongoose lemur family 🤩

Maddie, Clancy, and Duggan are a family of mongoose lemurs, a critically endangered lemur species native to the dry deciduous forests of northwestern Madagascar. Since mongoose lemurs are sexually dichromatic, you can tell the members of this family apart by the color of their "beards"—white for momma Maddie, and orange for son Clancy and dad Duggan. Scroll to the end for a close up on Maddie, who just turned 19 years old last week! 🎉

📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

7 days ago

Fritz and Narcissa in a field of flowers 🌸

Both members of this ring-tailed lemur companion pair sport matching light blue collars. These collars aren't just the hottest summer fashion—they're radio tracking collars that allow our staff to locate the lemurs in their forest enclosure. Usually only the dominant female of a group has to wear a collar, as lower ranking members tend to stick close by their matriarch, but Fritz spent most of his life living in a bachelor troop and doesn't have much experience listening to orders from a dominant female, so he often wanders off on his own. Despite his independent streak, Fritz still spends plenty of time with his companion, and the two can often be found cuddling, grooming, or snacking together 🥰

📸: Sara Nicholson ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

1 week ago

Looking for the perfect gift for a graduating senior, or a unique Father's Day present for a hard-to-shop-for dad in your life? 🎨

➡️ shop.duke.edu/paintings-by-lemurs

No matter what you're celebrating, lemur paintings are a great way to bring some color into someone's life while also supporting the care and conservation of the world's most endangered mammals! You can purchase these one-of-a-kind masterpieces in three different sizes from our Duke Stores shop or select your favorite in person at our Lemur Landing Gift Shop. Finger painting is a fun and completely voluntary enrichment activity for the lemurs, providing a sensory experience with non-toxic paint and an opportunity to forage for tasty snacks 😋

📸: Sara Sorraia ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

2 weeks ago

Wondering what's got the lemurs so excited? Book a Walking with Lemurs tour to see these incredible primates leap, snack, snooze, and play in our Natural Habitat Enclosures! 🍃

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/wwl

On this small, guided group tour, you'll get an unimpeded view of lemurs engaging in natural behaviors in the beautiful natural setting of Duke Forest. This tour will be an adventure, since the lemurs have the freedom to choose where they go and what they do—you might see lemurs foraging 60 feet up in the trees or you might see them cuddled up and snoozing with their troop on the forest floor, but no matter what, you will see lemurs enjoying the freedom to exhibit their natural behaviors in the forest 🤩

Walking with Lemurs tours run most mornings at 8:30am and/or 10:30am and are open to guests ages 10+. Tickets are available as early as this week and through the end of July, and August tickets will go on sale this Wednesday! Learn more and book now at lemur.duke.edu/wwl ✨

📸: David Haring (1); Sara Nicholson (2-4) ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

2 weeks ago

Introducing the final infants currently available for naming: Sophia's female twins, endangered ring-tailed lemurs born on March 27th 🥰

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/ultimate

These tiny twins are the sixth and seventh offspring of 19-year-old Sophia and 19-year-old Randy. They join older sisters Nemesis and Nyx in this family of six. Sophia’s twins were both born on the smaller side, but what they lack in size, they make up for in tenacity! Keepers who care for the family have described the twins as brave, resilient, curious, playful, and adventurous. They love exploring their forest enclosure with their family, always making sure to stick close to mom and dad. From a very young age, the infants have bounced around their enclosure, climbing up trees and fences on their own 😱

Fun fact: all seven of Sophia's offspring are girls! Sophia is a very protective mother, not letting her rowdy older daughters get too close to the infants, and Randy is a doting dad who doesn’t mind when the twins jump on his back or pull his tail 🥹

At the DLC, ring-tailed lemurs are generally given literary names, and recent births have included Atticus and Scout (To Kill a Mockingbird), Merry and Eowyn (The Lord of the Rings), Mr. Popper (Mr. Popper’s Penguins), and Gatsby (The Great Gatsby) 📖

Looking to make a tax-deductible donation of $20,000 to symbolically adopt and name Sophia's twins (yes, BOTH of them!)? Visit our website to learn more at lemur.duke.edu/ultimate or email us at adoptalemur@duke.edu. We're excited to hear from you! 💙

📸: David Haring (1,6,9); Allie M. (2,7,8); Sara Nicholson (3,4); Sara Sorraia (5) ... See MoreSee Less