Ringtails and sifakas in their natural habitat enclosures. Photo opportunities abound!
Click here to watch a video of Drusilla and Julian's sifaka family at the start of a Walking with Lemurs tour, leaping out of their indoor enclosure into the woods (and through our cluster of guests!).
Additional footage of our free-ranging lemurs in their natural habitat enclosures is accessible via our "Meet the Lemurs" YouTube playlist. They're so amazing to watch in person!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk in the wilds of Madagascar, watching in awe as lemurs leap through the trees around you? No need to travel halfway around the world – the DLC's Walking with Lemurs tour is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have that unforgettable experience right here in the forests of Duke University!
On a Walking tour, guests are guided in small groups through one of our 9 naturally forested habitats just as the animals' keepers set out to feed them in the morning, ensuring the appearance of leaping lemurs eager to eat their breakfasts. Though there will not be a barrier between you and the lemurs, the lemurs will not directly interact with any guests. We encourage natural behaviors from our lemurs, ensuring a safe and unique experience of what it would be like to wander the forests of Madagascar.
Please note that this is a seasonal tour offering based on warm weather forecasts, and can only be consistently offered from April 15 through October 15. If you're interested in an off-season date for this tour, we'll place you on a waitlist and notify you 24-48 hours before the tour if the weather forecast allows for a Walking with Lemurs tour type.
Pricing is $95 per person.
Additional details
Because you'll be walking in a forested area, closed-toed shoes are required and long pants are recommended.
Groups will walk along an unpaved path and spend time with stationary lemurs while the animals are breakfasting, since lemurs can otherwise be hard to find or spot high in the treetops. Walking paths vary in length depending on which enclosure we've selected for your tour, as do the types and number of species within that section of the forest. Generally guests can expect to see 1-3 species in the forest itself, plus additional species in indoor (unforested) enclosures after the tour.
Because there are no barriers between you and the lemurs, we cannot allow canes, tripods, walkers, stools, or other similar items on our Walking with Lemurs tours. Some rascally lemurs can get too handsy with these "novel objects," which can pose a health and safety risk to both the lemur and the objects' rightful (human) possessors.
As on all of our tours, for your safety and for the well-being of our lemurs, there will not be any opportunities to touch the animals at any time.
This tour lasts approx. 90 minutes and is offered seasonally (see above) at 10:30 a.m. most days of the week (Wednesday-Monday). Please note that this is not a private tour, and you will be schedule in small groups (typically 8-9 people in each tour group).
Because of the popularity and seasonal limitations of this tour, it tends to fill up several weeks in advance. Please submit our online form to make your Walking with Lemurs reservation.
Age restrictions: Participants must be at least 10 years old. All participants must sign a legal release waiver, and participants age 10-17 must have that waiver signed by a legal guardian. Additionally, participants age 10-15 must be accompanied by a legal guardian. Please note that legal guardian will be included as a paying participant in the total tour cost. Tour participants age 16-17 can attend the tour with another legal adult, not necessarily a legal guardian.
Novel objects: Because there are no barriers between you and the lemurs, we cannot allow canes, tripods, walkers, stools, or other similar items on our Walking with Lemurs tours. Some rascally lemurs can get too handsy with these "novel objects," which can pose a health and safety risk to both the lemur and the objects' rightful (human) possessors.
This video tutorial by Tamara Lackey Photography (Chapel Hill, NC) for Adorama TV is a fabulous resource for anyone visiting the DLC for a Walking with Lemurs tour and hoping to get great, professional-quality photographs! In it, Tamara shares tips for photographing fast-moving lemurs as well as capturing sharp portraits highlighting our lemurs' incredible eyes. The photos she gets are GORGEOUS, and her enthusiasm for lemurs is infectious!
Click the image below to be redirected to YouTube to watch the tutorial:
Here's what Tamara writes:
I never knew that lemurs were solar-powered creatures. I know this now. I also learned a whole lot more about these stunning animals in our newest episode, now live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEBkAI0Wmeg.
This reDefine Show episode is focused on how to photograph fast-moving subjects near and far, while also capturing sharp portraits (with a focus on otherworldly eyes) at very shallow depths of field. Check out Photographing Lemurs on Adorama TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEBkAI0Wmeg.
A huge thank you to the Duke Lemur Center for the amazing opportunity to spend some rather unique time with these seriously beautiful animals. Standing in the middle of acres of protected woods and getting to watch lemurs leap about in every direction is truly just an incredible experience. I had no idea that this is the second highest population of lemurs in the world, outside of Madagascar!
Photographed with Nikon D850 and D5 and 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8 & 105mm f/1.4.
As you enjoy the video, please bear in mind that Tamara is a Nikon Ambassador who visited us for a professional shoot -- with all the associated contracts and clearances. While her photography tutorial is valuable for all audiences, and especially for visitors wishing to photograph lemurs in our Natural Habitat Enclosures, the nature of her shoot was somewhat different from that of a standard Walking with Lemurs tour. If you'd like clarification, please call the Education Department at (919) 401-7240 or email primate@duke.edu. We'll be happy to help answer your questions!
