By James Herrera, Ph.D., DLC Director of Conservation. Posted June 26, 2026. On the 26th of June in 1960, Madagascar officially gained its independence from its colonizer, France. The struggle for independence has a long history that continues to shape the country today. In 1896, France officially annexed Madagascar. Colonial rule imposed major political, economic, […]
Read the Duke Lemur Center’s Stakeholder Update, sent to our donors on June 17, 2026. Questions? Contact Mary Paisley, DLC Development Director, at mary.paisley@duke.edu. June 2026 Stakeholder Update Two young ring-tailed lemurs are new to exploring one of our eleven forested free-ranging enclosures. The infants, Melissa and Karl, are clinging to mom, Liesl, as their […]
Celebrating Pollinator Week with the “Honey Bee” Twins! We’re so excited to announce the names of our littlest ring-tailed lemurs, Karl and Melissa! Karl was named by Keeper Becca, the family’s primary caretaker, after Austrian scientist Karl Von Frisch, who won a Nobel Prize for his research on honey bees and their “waggle dance.” This […]
By Marie Claire Chelini and Owen Covington, Trinity Communications, with additional reporting by Robin Smith, Ph.D. Posted June 11, 2026. Peter Klopfer, professor emeritus of Biology, civil rights activist and co-founder of the Duke Lemur Center, died on June 5 at the age of 95. He is survived by his wife, Martha, and their three daughters. Peter […]
Podcast In “A Creature That Has a Superpower” (Winter 2026), we discuss a truly incredible little lemur with evolutionary superpowers: the fat-tailed dwarf lemur! Dwarf lemurs are the only members of our primate family tree that are obligate hibernators. Tune in for a crash course in what makes these hibernating primates so fascinating and how […]
By Dr. James Herrera, DLC Director of Conservation. It is with great joy that we share the news: Nestorine has successfully completed her Ph.D.! Nestorine has been a collaborator with DLC since 2019, and starting in 2021, she has been a Ph.D. scholar studying nutrition and solutions to malnutrition in the SAVA region of Madagascar. […]
Meet Zava! Critically endangered blue-eyed black lemur infant Zava was born on March 2, 2026, to parents Charlie and Mangamaso at a healthy 87 grams, slightly larger than her older sister Mitsiky’s birth weight. At two months old, Zava is incredibly curious, often climbing off of mom and onto the wire and branching in her […]
We’ve given the DLC-SAVA Conservation annual newsletter a fresh coat of paint! Our newest issue is brighter, fresher, and eminently scrollable. Check out the redesign and join us in celebrating everything we’ve achieved together in northeastern Madagascar in 2025! Posted May 26, 2026.