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Welch and Katz Fund Surpasses $300,000 Milestone

Posted on December 29, 2025. Special gifts are creating a legacy for our conservation programs in Madagascar The Duke Lemur Center is delighted to share exciting news: Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the Charles Welch and Andrea Katz Fund has crossed a major milestone—total gifts and pledges now exceed $300,000! This achievement brings […]

Madagascar Programs Update – December 2025

December Madagascar Programs Update Read the Duke Lemur Center’s Madagascar Programs Update, sent to our Madagascar Programs Fund donors and this newsletter’s subscribers on December 17, 2025. Questions? Contact Mary Paisley, DLC Development Director, at mary.paisley@duke.edu. 

Training Program in Rural Madagascar Boosts Food Security and Women’s Empowerment, Duke Study Finds

Published on December 17, 2025. A new study published in Sustainability shows that simple, hands-on training in gardening and chicken husbandry is transforming livelihoods in rural Madagascar—especially for women. The research, led by Duke University’s Duke Lemur Center, evaluated more than 500 farmers who participated in agricultural workshops and found widespread adoption of new techniques, […]

Holiday Gift Guide 2025

From the DLC… to under your tree! Lemur-y gift ideas for everyone on your list—and all gifts “give back” to the lemurs at the DLC! Gifts for good: All purchases fund lemur care, housing, veterinary supplies, public outreach and education, and conservation initiatives—so you can feel good about the products you buy! Onsite shopping: The Lemur […]

INFANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Introducing Budgie and Flamingo, Our Final Ultimate Adoption of 2025!

Posted December 4, 2025. Meet Phoenix Chicken’s Twins! We’re so excited to announce the final two infants of our 2025 season, named through our Ultimate Adoption program: Budgie and Flamingo! Donors Cathy (Duke Class of ’82) and Dave Higgins were moved to make a generous donation to the Duke Lemur Center when they learned about […]

[JUST FOR FUN] Announcing the 2025 Lemur of the Year: Leonor!

Published on December 9, 2025. We’ve entered the final month of 2025, which means it’s that time of year… time to name our annual Lemur of the Year! Following in the footsteps of previous winners—blue-eyed black lemur Kidman in 2023 and Coquerel’s sifaka Albus in 2024—comes eight-month-old mongoose lemur Leonor. The Duke Lemur Center’s Lemur […]

Giving Tuesday 2025: Help Save Smuggled Sifakas

This #GivingTuesday, we’re raising funds to support a critical but heartbreaking aspect of the DLC’s partnership with Madagascar’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (MEDD): emergency care for Coquerel’s sifakas rescued from illegal wildlife trafficking. The DLC is assisting MEDD with three groups of rescued animals: 4 sifakas found in cages inside a suitcase (3 […]

An Emerging Threat to Lemur Conservation: The luxury wildlife meat trade in urban centers

By James Herrera, Ph.D, Director of Conservation at the Duke Lemur Center. Published November 25, 2025. Madagascar’s lemurs—among the most endangered mammals on Earth—face two very different hunting pressures: subsistence hunting in rural communities and a growing urban luxury meat trade. Understanding this distinction is critical for designing effective conservation strategies. Subsistence hunting occurs when […]