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Now introducing the second infant available for naming: Rodelinda's male, a critically endangered Coquerel's sifaka (yes, like Zoboomafoo!) born on March 9th 🥰
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/ultimate
Rodelinda’s infant is incredibly photogenic and very laid back, content to cling tight to mom or other family members. He is is 17-year-old Rodelinda’s eighth offspring and joins dad Johann, older sister Egeria, and older brother Albus in this family of five. Keepers who care for the family have said that he looks at the world a little differently, mostly from the comfort of his mom’s back 🤩
Fun fact: As an experienced mother, Rodelinda is very comfortable letting other family members take turns holding and grooming the infant. Two-year-old Egeria has been especially interested in her baby brother, which is a promising sign that she will make a great mother one day 🥹
Coquerel’s sifakas born at the DLC traditionally receive Roman names, ranging from emperors and consorts to cities and gods 👑
Looking to make a tax-deductible donation of $20,000 to symbolically adopt and name Rodelinda's male infant? 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 (1,2,4,6,7); Lauren K. (3); Lizzie L. (5)
We're so excited to introduce you to this year's lemur infants! The first infant available for naming is Bonita's female, a critically endangered mongoose lemur born on March 31st 🥰
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/ultimate
Bonita's female infant is the first offspring of first-time mom Bonita and breeding partner Juanito. This little lemur is gentle and curious, enamored with the larger-than-life world around her. Keepers who care for the family have described her as calm and sweet, and she has even been likened to a Disney princess—there is always a twinkle in her big, amber eyes! 🤩
Fun fact: Bonita's female infant is part of four generations of mongoose lemur females currently living at the DLC, along with mom Bonita, grandma Carolina, and great-grandma Maddie. Mongoose lemurs born at the DLC are traditionally given Spanish names ☺️
Looking to make a tax-deductible donation of $20,000 to symbolically adopt and name Bonita's female infant? 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 (1-5); Sarah K. (6, 7 Bonita, 7 infant); Courtney F. (7 Maddie); Sarah M. (7 Carolina)
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How are baby lemurs named at the DLC? 🤔
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/baby-names
Having unique monikers for each animal helps the DLC keep detailed records of every primate that has lived in our care since our founding in 1966. Species-specific naming themes allow for easy communication across departments, and on an individual level, names can celebrate something special about a specific lemur or capture an infant’s personality ✨
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/ultimate
With a tax-deductible donation of $20,000 to the DLC's Animal Care Fund or General Operations Fund, YOU can name a baby lemur and receive photos and updates on the infant for one year! This limited-time program is a great opportunity for:
📈 Businesses looking to bolster morale
🏥 Medical and dental practices
🐾 Veterinary hospitals
🤝 Civic groups
😍 Individuals or families passionate about lemurs
The proceeds will go directly to our animal care programs to provide the critical support needed to maintain the excellent care of the DLC’s irreplaceable colony of lemurs. Visit our website at lemur.duke.edu/ultimate to learn more about the individual infants up for naming, or email us directly at adoptalemur@duke.edu to get started 🥰
For inspiration, here's a quick rundown of some of our current naming themes:
❤️ Ring-tailed lemurs: literary names (Scout, Gatsby)
🧡 Coquerel's sifakas: Roman names, ranging from emperors and consorts (Majorian, Egeria) to cities and gods (Minerva, Pax)
💛 Ruffed lemurs: celestial or space-inspired names (Borealis, Hubble)
💚 Mongoose lemurs: Spanish names (Bonita, Rico)
💙 Blue-eyed black lemurs: blue-eyed celebrities (McAvoy, Hamill); Malagasy names for a special family (Velona, Mangamaso)
Check out the full blog post on our website to read more!
📸: Sara Sorraia
5 CommentsComment on Facebook
How about a nickname for $10 (American dollars)
I wish I had a few million to name all the Lemurs after me. Just kidding on the naming thingie 😆😝💗 but not on the few million to donate...
There’s only one thing that could make Baby Season more exciting: Now, for the first time ever, the DLC is sharing the honor of naming our newest colony members with the public! 😱
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/ultimate
With a tax-deductible donation of $20,000 to the DLC’s Animal Care Fund or General Operations Fund, YOU can name a baby lemur and receive photos and updates on the infant for one year! This limited-time program is a great opportunity for:
📈 Businesses looking to bolster morale
🏥 Medical and dental practices
🐾 Veterinary hospitals
🤝 Civic groups
😍 Individuals or families passionate about lemurs
The proceeds will go directly to our animal care programs to provide the critical support needed to maintain the excellent care of the DLC’s irreplaceable colony of lemurs 💙
Visit our website at lemur.duke.edu/ultimate to learn more about the individual infants up for naming, including personality profiles of each baby and lots of cute photos, or email us directly at adoptalemur@duke.edu to get started 🤩
📸: David Haring
8 CommentsComment on Facebook
Which species are each baby?
This is wonderful! I hope you get many donors wanting the chance to name a beautiful baby lemur!🩷🩷
Acacia Rowland
Jasper inspecting plants: a series 🔎🌿
Two-year-old ring-tailed lemur Jasper lives with his mom, dad, and three siblings in a troop that spends summer days free-ranging in one of our forest enclosures. Guests often ask if we plant anything specific in the forest habitats for the lemurs to forage, and the answer is no! Lemurs like Jasper are wet-nosed primates (strepsirrhines) and are able to use their powerful sense of smell to sniff out tasty wild plants, both in Madagascar and in North Carolina. Social learning also plays a key role in knowing what plants to eat, as young lemurs will watch what their moms and older siblings snack on, sometimes going so far as to steal food right out of mom's hand 😋
You can book a visit on one of our Walking with Lemurs tours to watch the foraging in action! Visit lemur.duke.edu/wwl to learn more and reserve tickets 🤩
📸: Sara Nicholson
6 CommentsComment on Facebook
Jasper is so handsome.
Jasper, you are so cool and so handsome🩷🩷You have learned well from your parents!
Red ruffed lemur Judith is just checking in to see if you've bought tickets to see her on a General Tour next week 👀
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/gt
Looking to make Memorial Day plans? We will be running an extra General Tour next week on Monday morning from 10am to noon! Just like our regular weekend morning General Tours, this tour will operate similarly to an open house, which means that guests can wander the path at their own pace and chat with the education docents stationed at each lemur enclosure. You don't have to arrive right at 10am—the tour is scheduled for a two-hour block, and occasionally guests use that full time, but the average guest spends about 45-60 minutes on the tour path 💙
We also added another General Tour next Thursday evening (5/29) from 5-7pm! Whether you spend your morning or your evening learning about these critically endangered primates, you're sure to have a great time 🥰
Note: you must purchase tickets in advance to see the lemurs! Book online at lemur.duke.edu/gt 🎟
📸: Keeper Sarah M.
9 CommentsComment on Facebook
Happy #MadagascarMonday! This week, we're sharing this fantastic video put together by Riccardo and our DLC-SAVA Conservation team, introducing the lemurs of the SAVA region 🤗
In a collaborative effort, the DLC partners with Malagasy scientists and local forest managers to study lemurs in remote rainforests. Researchers from CURSA, the university in the northeast region, are studying the diversity and abundance of lemurs throughout 200,000+ acres of rainforest to understand how many of these critically endangered species remain. We are particularly focusing on the silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus) because it is a highly threatened flagship species that only persists in some of the most pristine forests 🌿
The DLC's conservation projects in Madagascar are funded entirely through grants and donations. You can support our work today at lemur.duke.edu/donate. To learn more about our conservation projects, visit lemur.duke.edu/conservation or keep aneye out for upcoming #MadagascarMonday posts! ✨
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❤️
We can't believe how quickly lemur infants grow up! 🥹
Coquerel's sifaka Arcadius, the first infant of our 2025 baby season, is already SEVEN months old! You may have met Arcadius and his family during one of our Walking with Lemurs tours as this juvenile male learns to navigate their free-ranging forest enclosure. He still has plenty of growing to do—adult sifakas average 3.3 to 4.5 kg in weight, and Arcadius currently weighs about 1.7 kg 😱
The Duke Lemur Center’s colony of Coquerel’s sifaka is the most successful breeding colony in the world of this species or any species of sifaka, and the DLC owns and manages every individual in human care. Want to contribute to the care and conservation of this critically endangered species? Visit lemur.duke.edu/donate to learn about how you can help! 🌿
📸: Sarah K. (seven-month-old Arcadius); David Haring (one-month-old Arcadius tucked into mom Gisela)
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
That is amazing.
Adorable! I don’t know how you all can go home after being with these cuties 💕 I would never leave those little faces!!
We've got a very regal #tbt today with some crowned lemur baby photos 👑
Crowned lemurs are an endangered lemur species that live at the "crown" or northern tip of Madagascar. In the wild, crowned lemurs' small bodies and nimble jumps help them navigate the tsingy, incredibly sharp limestone formations that are difficult terrain for predators to traverse. While all crowned lemur infants are born the same gray color, males will transition to orange fur as they age, while females will remain gray with an orange "crown" marking on their foreheads 🧡
These infant and adult photos are female Aria, her younger brother Zuberi, and two of Zuberi's sons, Siwa and Nedjem. You'll often see bald patches on the foreheads of adult male crowned lemurs, as they have a scent gland there and sometimes wear down the fur as they vigorously scent mark their territories 🥰
Which crowned lemur do you think looks most like their baby picture? Let us know in the comments!
📸: David Haring (infant photos, adult Aria and Nedjem); Sara Sorraia (adult Zuberi); Sarah K. (adult Siwa)
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
Gorgeous
All adorable!!
All very interesting! Love their eyes.
Coquerel’s sifaka Albus is feeling playful 🤪
One-year-old Albus perfectly demonstrates the lemur “play face,” an open-mouthed expression that many lemur species use to engage group members in bouts of play that can include wrestling, jumping, chasing, and sometimes even pulling each other’s tails. Albus can often be spotted playing in his family’s fenced-in patio with big sis Egeria and dad Johann, while mom Rodelinda usually sits out from the roughhousing. The keepers who care for Albus and his family have even seen this goofy guy play-facing at them when they try to train him! In this photo, Albus was actually playing with his own tail 😂
📸: Keeper Lizzie
7 CommentsComment on Facebook
I am so jealous of his keeper Lizzie! She must enjoy every second
See you tomorrow Sweetie!
Albus is all in to life at the DLC.
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