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This is a Big Sister Hedwig appreciation post ☺️
Ring-tailed lemur Liesl's twins, who are almost three months old, now spend a lot more time off of mom and require a little extra supervision. Thankfully, ten-year-old sister Hedwig is up to the task! The female twin is a little more outgoing than her brother, so Hedwig usually keeps an eye on her as she bounces from twig to twig while Liesl cares for the clingier male. Hedwig, a twin herself, grew up with older sisters who helped raise her, so she had great role models! 💖
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/adopt/ultimate/liesl-infant
Interested in making a large donation to help protect Earth's most endangered mammals? For a tax-deductible donation of $20,000, you can symbolically adopt and name BOTH of Liesl's infants! These little lemurs will only be available for donor naming for another two weeks; once they turn three months old, if no one has adopted them, the husbandry staff that care for the family will choose names for them 🥰
📸: Sara Nicholson
Exciting news... for the first time in many years, our summer tour path includes aye-ayes! 😱
Our oldest lemur, 39-year-old aye-aye Poe, now resides in one of our nocturnal viewing rooms on our tour path! Poe shares two rooms in the front of our nocturnal building with his daughter, 30-year-old Ardrey, as well as one of our resident bush babies. Despite their spooky appearance, aye-ayes can be some of the shyest lemurs, so Poe and his crew have access to a second room out of sight where they can retreat if they need a little alone time 🫣
Fun fact: Poe, who was born in the wild in Madagascar and traveled to the DLC in 1987, is the oldest lemur in recorded history and was one of the original founders of the aye-aye population in human care 🌿
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/visit
Want a chance to catch a glimpse of the elusive aye-ayes? Book your tickets now to visit on a General Tour or Private Tour! Tickets are available through the end of July, and August tickets will go on sale on the first Tuesday of June! Be sure to book your visit in advance, as we are not able to accommodate walk-ins without a tour reservation 🎟
📸: David Haring
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We're so excited to announce the birth of another critically endangered blue-eyed black lemur infant... Meet Zava! 💙
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/zava
Zava was born on March 2, 2026, and is the second daughter of parents Charlie and Mangamaso. Last year, her older sister Mitsiky was the only blue-eyed black lemur infant in human care, in any facility in the world. Zava, whose name means "nature" or "clearness" in Malagasy, was symbolically adopted and named by a generous couple who wish to remain anonymous 😊
“Zava is very observant of her environment,” says Kevin, the primary keeper for the tight-knit family of four. “She loves to be outside. She looks at little insects with curiosity, sometimes even gently touching them.” 🐞
Blue-eyed black lemurs are among the most endangered primate species in the world, with possibly fewer than 1,000 individuals remaining in the wild, so maintaining a genetically diverse population of these lemurs in human care is a crucial safety net 🌍
📸: Madison A. (1,2,4,5); Britt Keith (3)
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Want to take photos like these? Take a stroll through the woods on our Walking with Lemurs tour! 🤩
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/wwl
These incredible lemur portraits were taken by a guest in our iconic Natural Habitat Enclosures (NHEs). On a Walking with Lemurs tour, a small group of guests journey out with an experienced guide into two NHEs, where you can view the lemurs in the trees of large, forested habitats from just six feet away, with no barriers between you (or your camera lens) and the lemurs! 📸
Tickets for Walking with Lemurs tours are available through the end of July, and August tickets will go on sale on the first Tuesday of June! You don't want to miss this unique experience, which has been described by guests as both "an unforgettable family outing" and "top tier as an adult." Visit our website to learn more and schedule your visit! ✨
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Hello from mongoose lemurs Murray and Fernanda 🤗
Did you know that lemurs are part of a group of primates called strepsirrhines? Like dogs, lemurs have wet noses, which help trap scent particles and contribute to their incredible sense of smell. This is in contrast to haplorrhines, or dry-nosed primates, like monkeys and apes (and us!). Lemurs utilize complex olfactory cues to flirt, mark their territory, and communicate in general. Many of the things that we talk about, lemurs smell about! 👃
🎥: Abby Flyer
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Sometimes lemurs fall out of trees... and sometimes trees break with lemurs on them 🌿
Lemurs don't fall out of trees often, and when they do, they generally bounce right back up. During one of our Walking with Lemurs tours, Coquerel's sifaka Albus climbed on a branch that wasn't as stable as he thought, and one of our volunteer photographers managed to capture his hilarious expressions as he realized his mistake a little too late! Albus is completely fine, as this young daredevil is very used to rough-and-tumble play with his siblings and has missed his fair share of overconfident leaps in the past 😂
📸: Sara Nicholson
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One question we get all the time on tours: how do you get the lemurs back into the building at the end of the day? The answer: ringing a dinner bell! 🛎️
Before free-ranging lemur troops are allowed to roam in our multi-acre forest enclosures, they have to complete months of positive reinforcement training, learning to associate the sound of a specific bell with receiving high-value snacks in their indoor enclosures. Lemurs are incredibly food-motivated, so no matter where they are in the forest, they will run, leap, or hop their way back to the building, allowing our staff to safely lock them in overnight ☺️
🎥: Abby Flyer
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Happy 30th birthday to Hunter, one of the ✨stars✨ of our summer tour path and the current oldest ruffed lemur at the DLC 🥳
Red ruffed lemur Hunter turned 30 this past weekend, an incredible milestone that not many lemurs reach, even in human care. Hunter's keepers made him this adorable celestial birthday celebration, complete with a yummy jello cake filled with bananas and grapes. Hunter will be spending this summer living on our summer tour path with his granddaughter, Pandora, so be sure to say hi when you visit on a Private Tour or General Tour! 🌟
📸: Keeper Isabella
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Join us for an immersive day of discovery this summer! 🤩
➡️ alumni.duke.edu/careers-learning/lifelong-learning/duke-exclusives
On 6/17 and 8/12, in collaboration with Forever Duke, we will be running events from 8:30am to 1:30pm offering a unique behind-the-scenes look at how science and conservation come together to protect the extraordinary primates at the Duke Lemur Center. This immersive program is designed for curious minds of all ages (10 and up) and will include a visit into a natural habitat enclosure to see lemurs free-ranging, behind the scenes access to research spaces, and direct engagement with specialists in the field. Registration is $149/person and run through the Duke Alumni Association, but you do not have to be affiliated with Duke to sign up and attend! 💙
📸: Sara Nicholson
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For supermom Liesl, running her troop and caring for her infants are all just part of a day's work 😎
➡️ lemur.duke.edu/adopt/ultimate/liesl-infant
This isn't 17-year-old Liesl's first rodeo; her two-month-old son and daughter are the 8th and 9th offspring from this experienced ring-tailed lemur momma. While many lemurs tend to have one infant at a time, twins are relatively common in ring-tailed lemurs. Hailing from the spiny desert in southern Madagascar, ring-tailed lemurs are incredibly adaptable, able to subsist on a broad diet that can include lizards, bugs, and even dirt in resource-scarce seasons. Wild ring-tailed lemur moms are more likely to have singletons in years where there isn't quite enough food to go around and twins (or even, occasionally, triplets!) when resources are more readily available. At the Duke Lemur Center, singletons and twins are both common—Liesl has actually had three singletons and three sets of twins! 👶👶
Looking to make a massive impact on the care and conservation of Earth's most endangered mammals? For a tax-deductible donation of $20,000, you can symbolically adopt and name BOTH of Liesl's infants! Visit our website to learn more at lemur.duke.edu/ultimate or email us at adoptalemur@duke.edu ✨
📸: Sara Nicholson
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