Taking care of lemurs

The risk of Swine Flu has brought extra precautions to the Duke Lemur Center. The lemurs do not pose any extra risk to people, and we want to assure that people don't pose any extra risk to the lemurs. So masks and gloves are the order of the day. When caring for an endangered species, it's always better safe than sorry!

For Lemurs, Spring means , "The Buffet is Open!"

At the Duke Lemur Center, our Primate Technicians work hard all winter to make life interesting, healthy, and enjoyable for the lemurs. The Techs do a great job! But nothing compares to the space and freedom of the Natural Habitat Enclosures (NHE) where many of the lemurs spend their spring, summer, and early autumn.

Watching the animals readjust to life in the forest is fascinating. The Techs take them out for short periods first and watch all the interactions to be sure disputes over food, rank, or territory are resolved without injury. There was a lot of scent marking among the Ringed-tails - especially along the fence line where two troops met. There was some "trash talk" between troops with members from each troop meeting toe to toe on the fence. But the lure of the leaves soon won out, and both groups ran off to pick their own dinner fresh from the trees.

Rank was clear when dominant females approached lower ranking females or males, who are lower ranking among many lemurs. Those of lower rank backed off of tender branches or yummy browse and turned eating rights over to those more dominant. Fortunately, Duke Forest provides plenty for all.



In the heat of the day, the lemurs slowed their activity, sought out shaded places, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy ice cubes made of diluted fruit juice that were provided by their ever vigilant Techs.

Healthy Infants hold hope for lemurs

Shown above are ring-tailed lemur, Dorieus and her twins, Hibernia and Limerick. Yes, the twins were born on St. Patrick's Day. The twins are thriving. They spend a lot of time now riding jockey-style on mom's back. Erin, their primary Primate Technician, reports that they like to ride mom's back one above the other. If you only see one infant on Dorieus's back, its probably Limerick. He's the male and has been somewhat larger from the very beginning. But don't worry, Hibernia is still there. She just likes to retreat to the safety of riding on mother's stomach at times.

The twins are fitting right in with the rest of the troop. Recently, their older sister was seen grooming them. They are fortunate. Their mother is the high ranking female in their group, and ring-tails are a species where females are dominate. While life is full of challenges - especially for an endangered species - having a high-ranking mom adds a measure of security.

Duke Lemur Center's Breeding Program is being highly successful. Duke takes part in Species Survival Plans in coordination with the American Zoological Association to see that global efforts to preserve endangered species are maximally effective.

Tiny lemurs hold clues to big mysteries

Dr. Anne Yoder, director of the Duke Lemur Center, likens Madagascar to a remarkable scientific library. She likens lemurs to irreplicable "volumes" filled with information of incredible value. According to the work of RJ Gifford and colleagues reported by Welkin E. Johnson of Harvard Medical School in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the tiny Gray mouse lemur may hold a thread that could help unravel the mystery of the evolution of the HIV and AIDS viruses.

History is written in the genetic material of this tiny lemur. According to Johnson, viruses are intracellular parasites, which cannot exist without their host. Once a virus becomes extinct, it vanishes without a trace. The one exception is the Retroviridae, and Gifford and colleagues have unearthed a retroviral fossil clearly related to modern AIDS viruses. The information lies in small sequence fragments resembling lentiviral sequences in the archives of Microcebus murinus (gray mouse lemurs.)

Don't worry. Lemurs can't give you AIDS, but within their genetic material they may hold a mirror that can help scientists figure out the events that led to the modern AIDS epidemic. One more reason to protect this small but critically important endangered species.

We're expecting at the Duke Lemur Center!

It looks like babies are in the Blue-eyed black lemurs' future once again.

The ground hog may have said six more weeks of winter, but spring is in the air at the Duke Lemur Center. Foster and Lamour, two of our blue-eyed blacks have tested positive for pregnancies. And you don't need to have your vision tested. The lemurs in the photo are a gorgeous auburn - as are all the female Blue-eyed black lemurs. Only the males are black. Can you guess the gender of the scientist who named them?

There is a reason for those cravings!

These pregnancies are great news for the folks at the Lemur Center. Not only do we want to know everything there is to know about lemurs; we want to do everything possible to save these endangered animals. We serve as a genetic safety net for these primates which only occur naturally in Madagascar. So every animal matters.

"You're what?!"

Duke Lemur Center - a bit more time for Titus, the last Golden-crowned sifaka

Tuesday morning it looked like Titus, Duke Lemur Center's last remaining Golden-crowned sifaka (Propithicus tattersalli) would need to be put down. Titus is 25 years old. That is aged for a sifaka, and he had undergone major surgery a little over a year ago to remove a large tumor. The tumor was back, and Titus has stopped eating. He sat hunched in his personal habitat - quiet, listless.

Titus is special to everyone at the Duke Lemur Center. He was wild-caught in 1993. The DLC has been his home the last 15 years. Like most lemurs, Golden-crowns are social. They usually live in groups - with five being the average group size. But Golden-crown sifaka are highly endangered. Titus is the last of his kind in captivity, and frighteningly few remain in the wild.

This is one thing that makes Titus important. His personality was another. As a social creature, who is the last of his kind in captivity, Titus was allowed more human contact than usual. We try to help our animals maintain their wild natures. They are not pets. But they are loved. And Titus is easy to love.

Once the decision was made that Tuesday would need to be Titus's last day, everyone trooped in one by one to say good-bye. That day it would be okay, even encouraged to scratch Titus under his arm - his favorite kind of contact. Although he was clearly ailing, he raised that little arm and seemed content as the people who had cared for him daily for 15 years said good-bye. There was not a dry eye in the house.

But this story has a happy ending - for the time being. The last Golden-crowned sifaka in captivity got a bit more time. The Duke Lemur Center vets decided it was in Titus's best interest to try removing the new tumor - despite his advanced age and frail condition. It worked. Titus survived the operation, woke from the anesthesia, and is resting comfortably. We know his time is limited. He is old. He is ill. But for today, Titus has a bit more time.

Lemurs and a Thanksgiving Feast

Food! Glorious food! I personally think that may be the lemur theme song. Of course, lemurs don't know about Thanksgiving, but the Duke Lemur Center Primate Technicians do. They care for the lemurs and their fellow prosimian primates 365 days of the year. The techs work hard to see that every day is safe, comfortable, and interesting for the precious animals in their care. So the techs have planned some special treats for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin flavored with cinnamon, sweet potatoes, corn, apples, grapes, bananas, grubs, meal worms - - - Yum! Of course, the pumpkin will be spread on branches so it can be delicately licked off; the sweet potatoes may be hidden in empty cans, and the corn may dangle from a string tied to the enclosure wire, but from a lemur point of view, that counts as "presentation." We call it enrichment for the animals. Hunting, climbing, sniffing out lunch in odd places makes life more interesting. Perhaps it sets off some genetic memory of lemur life on Madagascar.

In the picture above, Hesperus, a black lemur, is enjoying a cantalope that he planted himself - in that most natural of ways that animals plant seeds of fruit they have previously eaten. When the seeds sprouted, the techs took care of the plant until the melon was ready to harvest, and Hesperus could enjoy the fruits of his labor.

I did want to mention, again, that these delightful pictures are taken by David Haring, Duke Lemur Center's Registrar and Photographer.