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Duke Lemur Center

14 hours ago

Three is a magic number! ✨

We're excited to announce that TWO sets of gray mouse lemur triplets were born last month! Mom Tumbleweed gave birth to two sons and one daughter: Jack Frost, Seaweed, and Cattail. Mom Fauna was expecting twins, but she surprised our animal care staff by welcoming two sons and a daughter as well: Wolfsbane, Jimson Weed, and Belladonna. All six of these teeny infants are named after plants; Fauna's triplets specifically share their names with toxic plants 🌺🌾🌿

Want to see more precious photos and learn more about these itty bitty infants? Visit lemur.duke.edu/mouse-lemur-triplets-2023 to read their official birth announcement! 📝

📸:
1 - Jack Frost (left), Seaweed (middle), and Cattail (right) at two days old [Maddie P.]
2 - Cattail at one month old, inside of a Tupperware container for a routine weighing [David Haring]
3 - Jack Frost at two days old [Maddie P.]
4 - Seaweed at one month old [David Haring]
5 - Wolfsbane, Jimson Weed, and Belladonna at a couple of weeks old [Jodi S.]
6 - Belladonna at two days old, only 5.6 grams, clinging to an animal caretaker's finger [Jodi S.] ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

2 days ago

Snack time for Agatha and Binx! 🥥

Seven-year-old Agatha and one-year-old Binx are among the youngest of our ten aye-ayes. Agatha, named after acclaimed mystery writer Agatha Christie, lives with her mom, Medusa. Binx, named after Thackery Binx from the "Hocus Pocus" movies, lives with his mom Fady and dad Grendel. We give our aye-ayes snacks that allow them to utilize their percussive foraging techniques and strong teeth, like nuts in the shell and worm feeders (blocks of wood filled with live worms) 🪱

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

4 days ago

Happy Madagascar Monday! Today, we're bringing you some agroecology updates from our September conservation newsletter 🧑‍🌾

🥬 Over 100 new participants enrolled in hands-on agroecology training and received high-quality seeds to start their market vegetable gardens. That makes almost 500 participants trained since 2019! Follow-up surveys with almost 300 participants show that 50% practice the methods they learned in the workshops, and over 90% of them report improved results and bigger yields than using their previous techniques.

🍚 Almost 100 farmers participated in rice farming workshops in two communities, teaching modern techniques with hands-on, step-by-step participatory learning. Demonstration fields were planted with community members to track the progress and compare to traditional techniques.

🌿 50 farmers in one village were trained in vanilla agroforestry, teaching best practices for growing this lucrative cash crop.

We can't wait to share more updates on our conservation projects! Visit lemur.duke.edu/conservation or keep an eye out for our next Madagascar Monday update to learn more 💚 ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

5 days ago

We're finishing up our week of senior citizen spotlights with 30-year-old ring-tailed lemur Aristides! 💕

As our geriatric lemurs age, we make accommodations to ensure that their enclosures are as comfortable as possible. Ever since Aristides developed arthritis, our animal caretakers have placed extra ramps and branching in his enclosure to minimize the stress that jumping would cause to his joints. He has plenty of easily accessible nap spots on his outdoor patio to snooze in the afternoon sun ☀️

Of course, it's impossible to shout out all of our geriatric lemurs in just one week, so keep an eye out in the future for more photos and videos of your favorite seniors! 😍

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

1 week ago

Say hi to another handsome senior citizen: 27-year-old red ruffed lemur Hunter! ❤️

Hunter lives on our general tour path with companion Pandora. In these photos, you can see him engaging in two of his favorite pastimes: hanging upside down from his back feet, and munching on a tasty snack (a fig, courtesy of volunteer photographer David Haring.) In their natural habitat—the tropical rainforests of eastern Madagascar—red ruffed lemurs are canopy dwellers. Similarly, Hunter and Pandora often spend long stretches of time lounging at the very top of their silo enclosure 🌳⬆️

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less