Meet Liesl’s twins! This ring-tailed lemur brother and sister, born on March 8, are the eighth and ninth offspring of 17-year-old Liesl. 11-year-old Schwepps is a first-time dad. As is common in ring-tailed lemur troops, he is relatively uninvolved with infant care. Liesl spends most of her time with her older daughter, 10-year-old Hedwig, who has taken wonderfully to her new role as a big sister. Hedwig is very protective of her mom and new siblings; she frequently chases Schwepps away when he tries to approach and flirt with Liesl.
The female infant was born smaller (49 grams, compared to the male’s 59 grams) but has since surpassed her brother in size. Both infants are wide-eyed and curious about the world around them. They have started riding around on Liesl’s back while the family free-ranges in their 16-acre forest enclosure, even venturing off mom on occasion to climb small twigs and nibble on fresh leaves.
Schwepps was introduced to Liesl after the passing of her longtime partner, Aracus, who lived to an exceptional 33 years old and sired her first seven offspring. These twins are Liesl’s first infants in ten years—Hedwig and twin sister Griselda were Liesl’s final offspring with Aracus, born in 2016. Despite the decade-long gap, Liesl hasn’t lost any of her mothering instincts and continues to take fantastic care of her newest son and daughter.
At the Duke Lemur Center, ring-tailed lemurs are one of the only species whose naming theme depends on their family line. While Schwepps comes from a family who receive soda names, Liesl and her offspring all share Austrian names. Previous offspring include Gretl, Brigitta, Rolfe, and Edelweiss.
You can name both twins with a tax-deductible donation of $20,000 to the DLC’s Animal Care Fund or General Operations Fund.