It’s that of year again: DLC technicians, equipped with ample supplies of sunscreen, bug spray, water, and clippers, are heading out into the field for the annual month-long period of sumac harvesting! The Lemur Center’s seven chest freezers, all empty since the start of spring, need to be filled with freshly harvested sumac leaves so […]
By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. This jaw is from the extinct giant lemur Archaeolemur, which means “ancient lemur” even though it probably only went extinct a few centuries ago in Madagascar. Like all lemurs, Archaeolemur has a tooth comb, a forward-facing fusion of its incisors and canines. That […]
The Duke Lemur Center is home to 32 critically endangered Coquerel’s sifakas, folivorous primates with extremely specialized dietary needs. Because of their sensitive digestive systems, these delicate lemurs need to ingest leaves daily in order to survive and stay healthy. At the Duke Lemur Center, our animal care team harvests fresh redbud, tulip poplar, mimosa, […]
By David Haring, DLC Registrar and Photographer. Originally published in February 2017. The Duke Lemur Center was one of the first modern-day captive breeding centers to house the mysterious and, at the time, little studied aye-aye. (The Paris Zoo and Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust were other pioneers.) Three complicated and arduous DLC capture missions to […]
