Triplets at Duke Lemur Center

Just minutes old in this picture, three new Red-ruffed lemurs take in the sights at the Duke Lemur Center. Lemurs occur naturally only in Madagascar, which is an island off the coast of Africa. This island has been surrounded by deep ocean water for millions of years, making it a fantastic scientific lab for how life adapts to circumstance and change.

The folks at the Duke Lemur Center do three things: study these unique animals that came from Madagascar (and a number of other prosimian primates from Africa and Asia), teach others what they learn about lemurs and how to learn more about these fascinating animals and their habitat, and work with the Malagasy people and other interested groups to protect lemurs and their habitat. Part of this involves serving as a genetic safety net for the lemurs in Madagascar.

So if Pyxis, the Red-ruffed lemur above, looks proud, it's justified. She doesn't know it, but she is part of a well-planned breeding program designed to help secure the lemur's future. Her triplets help. And both mom and infants are doing well.

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.

Duke Lemur Center remembers John Hope Franklin

Just months before his death at age 94, John Hope Franklin visited the Duke Lemur Center. News of his impending visit sent ripples of excitement through the staff. We knew that this was a man who not only read history, studied history, wrote history and taught it, but he had lived history and by the way he lived, he had changed it. John Hope Franklin was this country's premier chronicler of the African American story and a James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University.

For the Duke Lemur Center, our brush with Dr. Franklin was all too brief, but we were moved by his presence. Everyone who met him was impressed by his calm dignity, his warmth, and his genuine humility. Yet, it was easy to see why Henry Louis Gates, Jr., director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research referred to Dr. Franklin as "the Prince." At 94, John Hope retained his regal bearing.

Also evident, as John Hope Franklin toured the Lemur Center and fed an aye-aye a raisin, was the delight in learning that along with his intellectual rigor and engaged passion had fueled a long and prestigious career. It was an honor to have him visit. We join the many who remember an honorable man, who made a difference.

Political Challenges in Madagascar - the only place in the world where lemurs occur naturally

Blog entry by Charlie Welch, Conservation Coordinator at the Duke Lemur Center
Charlie and his family lived and worked in Madagascar for many years and care deeply for the people, the land and the lemurs.

It has been almost a month since I wrote the last update of the political situation in Madagascar. Much has changed since that last entry.

The democratically elected president of Madagascar, Marc Ravalomanana resigned on March 17. He handed power to the military which had backed the opposition, and the military quickly passed the power on to opposition leader, Andry Rajoelina. This past Saturday, March 21 in a ceremony at the main stadium in Tana Mr. Rajoelina was formally handed the reins of the country. Mr. Rajoelina has the title of leader of the HAT, which translates as the High Authority of the Transition (government). He can not be given the title president as the Malagasy constitution dictates that any president of Madagascar must be a minimum of 40 years old. Mr. Rajoelina is 34. He will however have the same authority as a president. The “transition” government is to last for 24 months, after which there will be elections.

The international community has roundly condemned the unseating of a democratically elected president by forceful means. The African Union and the South African Development Community have both announced that they do not recognize the new government in Madagascar. The US, EU, and other countries around the world have taken the same stance. To date, I do not know of a single country which has come out in support of the new government in Madagascar. Most donor countries, including the US have suspended non-humanitarian aid. The US government has evacuated all “non-mission” personnel and their families. The Peace Corps has evacuated all volunteers.

The situation is a complex one for the donor community. No one wants to cut off aid to one of the poorest countries in the world, as that punishes those at the lower end of the economic scale. Also, as Madagascar is of enormous importance from a world biodiversity standpoint, conservation organizations do not want to curtail their fight to protect the key natural areas that remain on the island. Both are critically important points with no easy solutions.

What does it all mean? So hard to say at this point. What it does mean for certain is a large loss of foreign investment, which will mean further loss of jobs, which of course translates as difficult times ahead for the Malagasy people. And that on top of an already sagging world economy which has already caused cutbacks for many economic and business ventures in Madagascar, as worldwide. Being an unrecognized government will add enormously to that burden. It is certainly not good news for the environment as more of the new government’s emphasis will need to be on immediate people issues. Also, for the moment it is not yet clear what the new government’s view on conservation and the environment will be. At present illegal removal of precious woods from forests in certain areas of the northeastern part of the country is out of control, with armed gangs threatening locals in some instances. Some of the national parks have had to be closed down in that area of the country for security reasons. Everyone hopes that this is not a preview of things to come.

On a side closer to us, little has changed for the Madagascar Fauna Group (MFG) and Duke Lemur Center (DLC) in terms of conservation work in Madagascar. MFG Project Manager An Bollen is carrying on with work and trainings at Ivoloina and Betampona. There have been delays on some of the trainings, and some researchers have postponed their work, but otherwise An feels that it is important continue to move forward in as normal a fashion as is possible. We agree.

As always, our thoughts and hopes for the best are with our friends, and colleagues in Madagascar – in fact with the whole of Madagascar. There are difficult times ahead.

Here is a recent article from National Geographic about the situation in Madagascar and how it effects conservation.

Breeding Success at Duke Lemur Center

Pia and Conrad are doing well.

Just over a month ago, Pia and Conrad were fighting to survive. Pia had a uterine infection after giving birth to Conrad, and her milk wasn't coming in. Dedicated Primate Technicians and a skilled veterinary staff worked day and night to care for mom and infant, and it paid off. Now both are thriving.

Every life matters. With endangered species, each life takes on special importance. The animals at the Duke Lemur Center represent a genetic safety net for lemurs in the wild in Madagascar - the only place in the world where lemurs occur naturally. So every infant feels like a success.

Blue-eyed black lemurs - the females are auburn in color, the males are black.

This spring has been a good one for the breeding program at Duke Lemur Center. Just after Conrad was born, Drusilla, another Coquerel's sifaka, gave birth to Pompeia. This time mom and infant both did well from the beginning, and they are continuing to thrive. In fact, if you call 919.489.3364 x 0 for a tour, you can see mom and infant playing happily.

The Coquerel's sifaka are not the only lemurs having breeding success at Duke Lemur Center. This past week-end Foster, a Blue-eyed black lemur gave birth to twins. It's early days for the twins, and life for every species is fragile - particularly perinatally, but today mom and twins are doing well.

Ring-tailed lemur with infant

The Ring-tailed lemurs also had infants this spring. We have already had a set of twins and an additional single infant. All are doing well. There is a lot to celebrate at Duke Lemur Center this spring. Come see for yourself. If you can't come by, adopt a lemur. There are lots of ways to help save these precious animals.

All ages want to help the lemurs

Britt Keith, a Duke Lemur Center Primate Technician says, "You come out to the Lemur Center and you hand a meal worm to an aye-aye or you look a Pygmy slow loris in the face, and you go home and say, 'Wow! It's so important. We can't let them disappear." You can't get that anywhere else!" Call 919.489.3364 x 0 to schedule a tour, or visit lemur.duke.edu to support the work done at the Duke Lemur Center.

Duke Lemur Center salutes Dr. Fidisoa Rasambainarivo, Madagascar's first wildlife veterinarian

Duke Lemur Center and the Madagascar Fauna Group (MFG) are thrilled to report that Dr. Fidisoa Rasambainarivo has been accepted into the 2009 Envirovet Summer Institute. Dr. Rasambainarivo (Fidy) is employed by MFG as the staff veterinarian at Parc Ivoloina in Tamatave. Fidy graduated in the first class from the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Antananarivo in 2008 and completed a Conservation Medicine Internship at St. Louis Zoo / University of Missouri / Duke Lemur Center to become Madagascar’s first wildlife veterinarian. In his continued quest for training and experience, Fidy applied to the Envirovet program, which is a competitive international program to train veterinarians in international conservation and health monitoring. The 8 week course includes sessions at White OakPlantation, FL (Ecosystem Heath and Recovery), Fort Pierce. FL (Aquatic Wildlife and Ecosystem Health), and Tanzania (Wildlife Health and Conservation). Fidy’s pursuit of excellence benefits his patients at Parc Ivoloina, his veterinary colleagues inMadagascar where he actively helps train students, and MFG’s ongoing conservation goals. Congratulations Fidy!”

Helping Lemurs through Research

Duke Researcher, Doctoral candidate, Meredith Barrett and a mouse lemur she is working to protect

Through the Duke Lemur Center, Meredith Barrett was able to go to Madagascar, the only place where lemurs naturally occur. She is studying lemur disease ecology, linking health, ecosystems and conservation in Madagascar. Meredith's research focuses on the impacts of increasing human development on lemur health. The information she gathered will help us understand how levels of human exposure influence lemur health and biodiversity. Her work will also help develop tools to help us predict and assess disease emergence risk. This can inform both conservation efforts and planning by public health agencies.

To hear more about the importance of Meredith's work, watch this video:

Strange friends at Duke Lemur Center

Merlin the aye-aye and Pima the Pygmy slow loris share some grub.

Aye-aye are lemurs found only on Madagascar, an island off the coast of Africa. Pygmy slow lorises are from Asia. So normally their paths don't cross, but at Duke Lemur Center they have turned out to be compatible room mates. Both are nocturnal. Both enjoy a tasty grub worm, and both are gently natured. So some companionable relationships have developed.

The aye-aye and lorises have been seen curled up together in the same nest box, sharing a meal, and exploring their environs together. The companionship is enrichment for both species, and aye-aye especially need enrichment as they are highly intelligent.

Duke Sports Medicine meets Duke Lemur Center

Dr. Dean Taylor and his surgical fellow, Dr. Alfred Cook are delighted with the outcome for one of their most unusual patients - Wizard, a collared lemur.

For Dr. Dean Taylor, Orthopaedic Surgeon with Duke Sports Medicine, and his fellow, Dr. Alfred Cook seeing patients like Duke athletes: basketball player, Greg Paulus; swimmer, Ashley Twichell, and tennis player, Jared Pinsky is all in a day's work. But Duke Sports Medicine serves athletes of all levels and ages, so they are used to seeing patients who names are less well-known. Still, February 13 was special. Duke Sports Medicine added a category to patients served: athletes of all levels, ages, and species!

Dr. Taylor repositions Wizard's dislocated elbow.

Wizard, a 13-year-old collared lemur had dislocated her elbow and fractured her radius. While lemurs are masters at leaping and climbing, occasionally they miss a jump or land on a branch that breaks under their weight. In the wild, this would have been a debilitating, if not finally fatal injury. At the Duke Lemur Center, however, the Primate Technicians are on the ball, and Wizard's injury was quickly spotted. Wizard was treated by the world's leading Lemur Veterinarians, Drs. Cathy Williams and Dr. Bobby Schopler. Drs Williams' and Schopler's care was swift and appropriate.

Drs. Cook and Schopler work together to help Wizard.

But lemurs are endangered animals, and the fact that these unique creatures occur naturally in only one place in the world, Madagascar, gives the work at Duke Lemur Center a sharp focus and makes it urgent that we succeed in studying and caring for these irreplaceable treasures, who are irretrievable resources. Enter Dr. Dean Taylor and his excellent team: Dr. Alfred Cook, PA Scott Gibson, and Synthes Orthopaedic Equipment Representative, Allan Burris - all of whom donated their time to care for a rare animal the size of a small house cat. (Wizard weighs 6 lbs.)

Drs. Cook and Williams help Wizard adjust to her new splint.

Everything went well. Wizard's fracture-dislocation of the right elbow was manually reduced and immobilized (closed reduction followed by splint immobilization) without having to do open surgery. Wizard is sporting her neon pink splint and enjoying lots of treats and attention. Soon she will be scampering up trees and leaping from limb to limb with her fellow lemurs - totally unaware of the team of folks who shared their skills and opened their hearts to one small, endangered, and very appealing lemur.

The Joy of Lemurs

Drusilla and Agrippina (an earlier infant)

In Madagascar, political times are tense. In the US, economic times are troubled. At Duke Lemur Center, life gets put in perspective, as another Coquerel's sifaka gave birth. Drusilla is a super mom. She births healthy infants and cares for them well - grooming, nursing, protecting.

In fact, her latest daughter was so robust when she was born that Julie Taylor, our Vet Tech, said, "If I hadn't seen the umbilical cord still attached, I would have thought this infant was a week old."

Photos by David Haring

Drusilla and the folks at the Duke Lemur Center are happy to announce that both mom and baby are thriving.

And if you remember Pia and her male infant, Conrad, who was born recently, they are both doing well also. So while the world struggles on about them, the lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center remind us how precious life is, and how joyful it is to see the life cycle continue.

The folks at the Duke Lemur Center are learning everything they can about lemurs, so they can do everything possible to protect and save these incredible endangered animals.

To see these animals for yourself, call 919.489.3364 x 0 and schedule a tour.

Sad Time for Madagascar - Native Home for All Lemurs

Madagascar, native home for all lemurs, is facing challenging political times.

Last week, tensions and frustrations in Madagascar sadly boiled over when peaceful demonstrations degenerated into riots and looting in the capital of Anatananarivo (Tana), as well as in some provincial capitols. The mayor of Tana, Andry Rajoelina, (nicknamed TGV for the French high-speed trains,) has emerged as the leader of an opposition movement and has declared himself :in charge" of the country. For the moment, there is a power standoff between Mr. Rajoelina and the president, Marc Ravalomanana.

The source of the discontent is the worsening economy in Madagascar, despite much recent and planned foreign investment. The mining sector has been the recipient of much of the investment, and a plan to lease out massive tracts of agricultural land to South Korea has particularly embittered public opinion. Most Malagasy people, especially at the lower end of the economic scale, feel that their buying power is only shrinking, despite the investments.

The primary targets of the looting around the country were enterprises owned by president Pavalomanana, who is also a businessman. Those include the MAGRO and Tiko stores and warehouses which contain mostly dairy products and other food stuffs. In many instances, the looting spread to other businesses, including electronic stores, furniture stores, and other grocery stores and markets.

The Madagascar Fauna Group (MFG) office in the east coast city of Tamatave or Toamasina narrowly missed becoming collateral damage when a MAGRO warehouse store was attacked and looted in the night of 3 Feb. The MFG office is directly across the street from the MAGRO, as is MFG Project Manager An Bollen's house. An is safe and hanging in there and has moved temporarily to a more prudent location. As a reminder, the Duke Lemur Center is a founding and managing member of the MFG consortium which at present includes 26 members at different levels. The MFG has an ongoing history of more that 20 years of conservation work in the Tamatave area.

The MFG projects at Ivoloina and Betampona are so far not directly impacted by violence or looting, as they are 12km and 40km out of town, respectively. However, staff are having difficulty finding enough food for the protected lemurs at Ivolina, since most of the markets in town were ransacked. It is also impossible for them to get much done with many businesses and stores closed in town, including banks. And, of course, for Ivoloina, the turmoil is bad news in terms of visitor numbers. Last week, a cruise ship, that was scheduled to visit at Ivoloina, cancelled. Cruise ship revenue is very important to Ivoloina, as there are sometimes hundreds of foreign visitors who make the trip from the docked ships.

So what does this all mean for Madagascar? In the short and medium term, there will be food shortages due to looting. Food prices are already going up and, in some cases, doubled. People will become more desperate and crime will increase (which tends to happen in such periods of instability.) Jobs have already been lost, and there are almost certainly more losses to come. Life will become more difficult for those on the bottom of the economic scale, especially those who are already living on the edge. The poorest in the countryside will be forced to draw more from the land, just to keep themselves and their families alive. So the state of the environment and the forests will certainly suffer. All not good.

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to the MFG staff and to the Malagasy people as a whole, during these difficult times. May there be a quick resolution to this tenuous situation, such that the country can move forward and people can live their lives in peace and dignity - and so that there can be hope for conservation efforts in Madagascar.
Post by Charlie Welch, Duke Lemur Centers Conservation Manager
If you read French, Charlie suggests this link.

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?!"