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Did you know that #WorldLemurDay 2025 is on Halloween??? 👀
Celebrate both holidays at once by dressing up as a ring-tailed lemur! Swing by our Lemur Landing Gift Shop almost any day (closed Tuesdays) between 10am and 4pm to pick up an easy, last-minute Halloween costume. These ears and tail are perfect for all ages, whether you're Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood or watching a movie and waiting for the doorbell to ring. Supplies are limited and in person only, so get yours now! 👻
Kicking off Halloween week with some spooky shots taken by a tour guest 🖤🤍
These black-and-white photos were taken on a Walking with Lemurs tour of ring-tailed lemur Alena and her troop! Even without color, you can see how striking these striped tails are 🤩
📸: Philipp Elssner
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We have been changed for good 💚🩷
Former DLC resident Elphaba investigates a pumpkin in this spooky season throwback photo! Elphaba now resides at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, but her mother (Ardrey) and grandfather (Poe) still live at the DLC. Aye-ayes born at the DLC all receive dark and spooky names—including fictional witches and wizards, mystery writers, and monsters from classic literature 🧙
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/onsite-tours-ww
Our final Creatures of the Night Wild Workshop is this upcoming Thursday from 5-7pm! Celebrate spooky season by learning what makes nocturnal primates so special, and maybe even hear a few spooky tales, while you watch them enjoy the enrichment you made for them. You'll have the opportunity to see and learn about our four resident nocturnal species: aye-ayes, fat-tailed dwarf lemurs, gray mouse lemurs, and Moholi bush babies 🎃
📸: David Haring
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
Elphaba!
Very spooky!!
We've got something exciting coming for World Lemur Day 2025! 🤭
Exciting changes are coming to our Adopt a Lemur program, including some brand new furry faces! (You may have gotten a little sneak preview if you've visited our Lemur Landing Gift Shop recently...) And don't worry, everything will be available in person AND online, so you can celebrate with us from anywhere in the world 💙
Keep an eye on our social media to learn how you can support lemur conservation and snuggle a new cuddly plush NEXT FRIDAY 10/31 on #WorldLemurDay 😉
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So exciting! Can’t wait to add at least one more lemur to my classroom collection! (My kids think I’m slightly nuts, but I’m cool with that. 🤣)
Great...over the years I have visited twice with family (Keeper for a Day) & have your t-shirts! Love the DLC!
Awesome ❤️
Durham autumn means lemur patio season 🍁
Here in North Carolina, it gets a little too chilly in the winter for the lemurs to free-range in the forest. All of the diurnal lemurs' indoor winter enclosures connect to screened-in outdoor patios, allowing families to soak up the sun together on slightly colder days. On warm afternoons, the husbandry team will feed the lemurs their meals or intermediate snacks in their patios, encouraging them to take advantage of the sun ☀️
Enjoy some candid shots of ring-tailed lemur Doris, mongoose lemurs Leonor and Juanito, and Coquerel's sifakas Ferdinand and Albus with their outdoor snacks, courtesy of the keepers! 🥰
📸: Sarah K. (Doris, Albus); Sarah M. (Leonor, Juanito, Ferdinand)
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Blue-eyed black lemurs Brady and Malala are absolutely stunning 💙
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/donate
Every week is #LemurWeek here at the Duke Lemur Center! Like approximately one third of lemur species, blue-eyed black lemurs are critically endangered. Lemurs are the most endangered group of mammals on Earth, with 98% of species listed as either vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, and there are at least 17 lemur species that have already gone extinct 🌍
You can help protect these incredible primates by making a tax-deductible donation to the DLC! Your investment will protect endangered lemurs and their natural habitat in Madagascar while also supporting groundbreaking non-invasive research, conservation efforts, biodiversity protection, and educational outreach. Visit our website at lemur.duke.edu/donate to learn how YOU can make an impact! ✨
📸: Sara Nicholson
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Stunning is definitely the word For Brady and Malala.
My favorite blue-eyed celebrities 💫💙
So pretty 💕
Happy #TongueOutTuesday from everyone's favorite sassy supermom, Sprite! 😝
At 24 years old, ring-tailed lemur Sprite is currently one of the more senior residents of the Duke Lemur Center. While she now spends her days peacefully free-ranging in the forest with daughter Lulu and male companion Seagrams, Sprite spent many years participating in the DLC's conservation breeding program, helping to create genetic safety net in human care for endangered ring-tailed lemurs. Today, Sprite boasts a legacy of 13 offspring, 43 grandlemurs, 25 great-grandlemurs, and 9 great-great-grandlemurs! 😱
Fun fact: 12 of Sprite's 13 offspring are girls! Sprite's first daughter, Ginger, was a singleton, but her following 12 infants were born in six sets of twins. And yes, all of her offspring were also named after beverages, including Fresca, Sierra Mist, Capri Sun, and Izze 🥤
📸: Sara Nicholson
4 CommentsComment on Facebook
Sprite, you are truly a WINNER!
I ❤️ Sprite! Sorry we missed ya’ll this past weekend when we were in town. :(
Get spooky this Saturday at the DLC Museum of Natural History's FREE open house! 💀
✅ Where: 1013 Broad Street (NOT the main DLC campus)
✅ When: Saturday 10/25 from 1-4pm
✅ What: Take a look at the DLC's expansive fossil collection and our exhibit showcasing the evolutionary journey of lemurs and humans. Meet mad scientists, hang out with skeletons, and get festive in this special spooky season open house!
✅ How much: FREE!
Want to learn more? Visit lemur.duke.edu/fossil ✨
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Say hello to our most recently named infant: mongoose lemur Leonor! 😍
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/leonor
We're excited to announce that Bonita's female infant was named through our Ultimate Adoption program! Earlier in 2025, Melanie and Carl visited the Duke Lemur Center on trip from Texas. The couple have been DLC fans and supporters of the Adopt a Lemur program since their first gifts as “adoptive parents” in 2023. On their Behind the Scenes tour, they were impressed by their “super guide,” DLC Educator Ethan Moore, and the DLC’s commitment to protecting and conserving these incredible endangered primates—so impressed that they decided to make a generous donation of $20,000 to name Bonita’s infant 💙
Leonor ("lay-uh-nor") is an elegant and traditional royal name historically given to Spanish princesses, up to and including the current princess. Leonor is playful and curious, enamored with the larger-than-life world around her. Whether she’s bouncing off the walls, using mom Bonita as a trampoline, or trying to entice dad Juanito to play, this little girl has stolen the hearts of our staff, volunteers, and guests. Most of all, she has introduced thousands of people to critically endangered mongoose lemurs and the urgent need for their care in captivity and conservation in Madagascar 👑
📸: Keepers Sarah K. (1,3) and Sarah M. (2)
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Such wonderful supporters!! I fell in love in 2024 with the lemur center and all of the staff is extraordinary!! Keep up the great work and welcome Leonor!!
That little face!😍
Five-month-old Toulouse Goose climbs a piece of bamboo in her free-ranging room 🎋
Did you know that fat-tailed dwarf lemurs born at the Duke Lemur Center are named after birds? Toulouse Goose is the only one of her siblings named after a goose; fellow triplets Bufflehead and Smew and older siblings Eider and Wigeon all share their names with types of ducks. The naming theme extends to extinct birds, like Elephant Bird and Dodo, as well as more common birds, such as Raven and Osprey 🦅
What bird name would YOU give to a fat-tailed dwarf lemur?
📸: David Haring
7 CommentsComment on Facebook
Kinglet! Due to the small size and “big eye” appearance!
This question will obsess me today. I’m a bird nerd as well as a lemur lover….
So adorable
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. . . LEAPING LEMURS!!! SPOOKY LEMUR DAY LEMURS!!! . . . .