Daring Escape Leads Lemurs to School Library Lured by fruit, two ringtailed lemurs are rounded up at Cresset Christian Academy.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Re-printed from Duke News


DURHAM, N.C. -- When the authorities arrived, the fugitives were lounging in the school library, stuffing themselves on a tropical fruit salad that the lunch lady had thoughtfully provided. A gaggle of admiring school girls stood around, snapping cell phone pictures from every angle and offering treats in their palms.

So ended the 36-hour adventure of Berisades and Ivy, a pair of 6-year-old ringtailed lemurs who daringly vaulted the electric fence of Natural Habitat Enclosure #4 at the Duke Lemur Center (DLC) late Saturday.

The first call came in to Duke Police from a neighbor of the Lemur Center who said she saw lemurs eating her neighbor's garden on Saturday night, but it was chalked up as a possible raccoon sighting. Then the two half-brothers failed to show up for brunch on Sunday morning, and the call went out to all Lemur Center staff to drop what they were doing and join the search.

This same pair had experienced a brief breakout the week before when a storm pushed over a tree, forming a bridge over the electric fence, said Greg Dye, Operations Manager of the Lemur Center. "We're still not sure how they did it this time, but let's just say that where there's a will, there must be a way."

DLC staff fanned out in the neighborhoods south of the center rattling their chow buckets, but the search was called off at about 8 p.m. Sunday as a thunderstorm moved through.

It resumed at 6 a.m. Monday and then quickly shifted farther south as a motorist called in to say she'd seen the pair crossing Cornwallis Road on her way to work. Calls started coming in more frequently, many through Durham animal control. One woman called to say they ran through her back yard as she was standing on the deck.

Based on these reports, Dye thinks they made it almost to Mark Jacobson Toyota at Garrett Road and 15-501 before turning around and heading back north.

At about noon, a pair of teenagers helping run the summer camps at Cresset Christian Academy at 3707 Garrett Road spotted the animals in front of the school and alerted preschool teacher Anna White. "I said, 'You guys are absolutely nuts!'" until she saw the lemurs.

The school is a mile and half from the lemur's enclosure as the crow flies, but based on excited reports phoned in from surrounding neighborhoods, they likely traveled a considerable amount more than that.
Together, White and the teens trailed the animals as they worked their way around to the rear of the school, and then somebody had the idea of getting them inside for safe-keeping with a bit of fruit left over from lunch.

"At one point, one of them was sort of lounging in a chair at the table, and somebody put a book in front of it," White said. "I had one eat out of my hand. I never thought to put that on my life list, but I could cross it off now."

Dye arrived shortly before 1 p.m. with a pair of kennel carriers. When they returned to the Lemur Center, "we did a ‘perp walk' and then they had a quick weigh-in and checkup to make sure they were in good health," Dye said.

"They are so grounded," said Lemur Center Director Anne Yoder. The pair will be restricted to an indoor-outdoor style caged enclosure until DLC officials can figure out how they escaped.

"Both boys are of the age when they would normally leave their family group and go out to set up new territories of their own," Yoder said. "That may have been their motivation for hitting the road, so to speak."

Escapes have happened before at the Lemur Center, not always with such happy endings. But the natural habitat enclosures that the animals enjoy are essential to their well-being and natural behavior, explained Colony Manager Andrea Katz. Some DLC lemurs have been repatriated to their native Madagascar, and it's important they don't lose their natural edge.

"They were able to forage and they stayed together while traveling," Dye said. "They did what lemurs do in the wild," including, apparently, striking out in search of young lady lemurs.

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.