Madagascar is over 9000 miles away...but you don't have to travel that far to see lemurs up close. Welcome to the Duke Lemur Center
“Did you hear that?”
I do and it sounds like it’s coming from everywhere. I’m in the middle of Duke Forest, 7,000 acres of trees west of the university in Durham, North Carolina. It’s an unseasonably warm winter morning as I walk among the towering trees of mixed pine and upland hardwoods, their branches still thick with leaves even though the Winter Solstice is a few days away. I hear several high-pitched mews in quick succession, almost like whistles. I also hear the dull hum of traffic on Highway 501 as a reminder that I’m not as far from the city as my surroundings make it appear. My guide Sara Sorraia points up and I follow her finger, but I don’t see anything.
The Duke Lemur Center is located in middle of Duke Forest just west of Duke University in Durham, NC. Photo by Carrie Dow.
“That’s an alarm call,” says Sorraia, Director of Communications/Guest Experience Manager for the Duke Lemur Center. “In the wild that would be a call to babies in the nest saying aerial predator, but here it’s more like a helicopter or a dropped food bowl.”
***
I’m taking a private tour of the Duke Lemur Center (DLC), an organization founded in 1966 to study and protect of one of the most endangered mammals on Earth – lemurs.
Members of the primate family, Lemurs are humans’ most distant primate relatives. When a “vegetation raft” floated across the Mozambique Channel to the island of Madagascar tens of millions of years ago, the plants and animals on it became separated from the African continent allowing the new arrivals, including pre-historic lemurs, to evolve independently from the chimpanzees and bonobos that are our closest living evolutionary relatives. However, we still have shared traits like large brains (compared to our size), hands that can grasp, full color vision (although like humans, lemurs can be red-green colorblind), and complex social group structure. The blue-eyed black lemur is the only primate species besides humans known to consistently have blue eyes. Although lemurs are our distant cousins, we still share 96 percent of our DNA with them. To know lemurs is to know ourselves.
Do you see the lemur? Photo by Carrie Dow.
“Oh! There they are!” Sorraia says. “This is a family of four. You can see them at the top.” I still can’t see them, but I can hear the rustling of leaves as they move.
“They’re beautiful,” Sorraia whispers. It isn’t until they drop down out of the leafy treetops that I can finally see the reddish-brown bundles of fur with dark long skinny tails against a patch of blue sky as they move down the tree trunks headfirst. They jump down to the ground and walk around like we aren’t even there.
***
It is believed that the first Europeans to see lemurs named them from the Latin word ‘lemures,’ meaning ghosts or spirits. That’s because they are extremely elusive. Sorraia tells me that occasionally DLC researchers will travel to Madagascar for weeks of study and not see a single lemur. This makes the Duke Lemur Center both valuable and unusual as a US animal welfare center. They are first and foremost a research facility for the scientific study of these amazing creatures. Scientists study what they eat, how they behave with other lemurs, how they raise their young, how they sleep, and even how they age and die. These lessons can then be applied to protect the wild lemurs of Madagascar.
Unlike many research facilities, however, the DLC is open to the public for group and private tours, educational programs, and accepts volunteers to help with their care. This openness is beneficial to both the public and the center. The center can generate income through tickets sales and event fees, and volunteers provide much needed manual labor (i.e., chopping vegetables and cleaning enclosures) while visiting the center educates the public about our lemur cousins and allows people like me to see these animals free ranging in the trees without the time and expense of crossing an ocean and trekking into mountains and jungles.
***
There are around 100 different species of lemurs in Madagascar making them one of the most diverse mammals on the planet. Sorraia says the DLC currently has 215 lemurs living at the center, 12 species of lemurs and one species of bush baby – related to lemurs, but not a lemur.
Typical lemur diet. Each diet is tailored to each species. Photo by Carrie Dow.
We visit an indoor enclosure first so Sorraia can explain the work the center does. She says the center subscribes to the “Do No Harm” policy of animal research, which focuses on observation over handling. That also means that people, including the staff, are not allowed to touch, pet, feed, or otherwise have physical contact with the lemurs. They want lemurs to be as independent of humans as possible. The only time lemurs are handled is during medical exams and even then, contact is limited. Sorraia says they achieved this through positive reinforcement training. Staff have trained the lemurs to hop onto scales by themselves when they need to be weighed and to enter travel carriers on their own when they need to be moved. Sorraia explained they accomplished this through food rewards because, like most of us primates, lemurs are food motivated. She even tells me that when one of their aye-ayes (a rare nocturnal lemur species) was pregnant, they trained her to hang upside down from her feet (a typical lemur behavior) to perform weekly ultrasounds on her belly to monitor the baby’s development.
“The really fun part,” she says with a hearty laugh, “is that for the ultrasound gel, they discovered that applesauce works just as well and was a very tasty treat for her to lick off afterward.”
***
As we walk around the DLC, Sorraia shows me the different buildings on site. “This is our main building,” she says as we walk buy a large concrete box. “We call it the main building because it was the first one that was built when the DLC was founded in the 60s.” She says the main building houses administrative offices and nocturnal lemur housing because it doesn’t have windows.
Several species of lemurs are nocturnal including the afore-mentioned aye-aye, the largest nocturnal primate in the world. Nocturnal species are kept in special indoor enclosures that mimic the outdoors as much as possible. Sorraia says they have also reversed the daylight hours in those buildings so the lemurs sleep during nighttime (because they think it’s daytime) and are active during the day (because they think it’s nighttime) so researchers don’t have to stay up all night to observe them.
“Another nocturnal lemur is the fat-tailed dwarf lemur, which is the world’s only hibernating primate,” she says as we pass the building they are housed in. “Unfortunately, we cannot see the dwarf lemurs because they’re in torpor season. They have been moved into the hibernaculum.”
“Like bears?” I ask.
Photo by Carrie Dow.
“Yeah, but the dwarf lemurs will hibernate for up to seven months and they hibernate much more deeply than a bear does. They hibernate so deeply that their temperature drops to ambient temperature and their heartrate slows down to like one beat a minute.”
She goes on to say that dwarf lemurs’ brains will almost flatline in torpor so periodically they have to rouse themselves up into a sleep state. “Which brings up a very interesting study question,” she notes. “Why is sleep so important that you’re using all that energy, of which you have limited supply during torpor, to rouse from sleep and then go back into torpor again?”
“Why do they go into torpor in Madagascar?” I ask. “It doesn’t get cold, does it?” She answers they go into torpor during “seasonal scarcity,” the dry season when their preferred foods temporarily stop growing. Then she mentions another interesting dwarf lemur fact.
“When they wake up – after seven months of that hibernation state – they immediately go into breeding season. They’re in full breeding shape. They have no muscle atrophy, no negative effects from all that calorie and sugar loading they did before torpor, which is cool from a human health perspective. What if you were in a coma and didn’t move for seven months? Your body wouldn’t recover from that. So how can a dwarf lemur?” Then she poses a few hypotheticals.
“Is it possible to induce a torpor-like state in humans instead of inducing a coma? And if you could do that, could astronauts hibernate? That would make deep space travel possible because (astronauts) wouldn’t need as much energy resources … It also affects aging. (Lemurs’) telomeres are maintained and possibly lengthened when they hibernate so they live a really long time, compared to what they should live to. Something about torpor is very advantageous for them.”
(NOTE – Telomers are found at the end of chromosomes and are involved in DNA replication and repair. Because they degrade/shorten over time, they are believed to affect an organism’s lifespan.)
***
The first building we enter is the center’s veterinary hospital and research center. Built only two years ago, Sorraia says it’s the world’s most advanced lemur hospital hosting veterinarians and researchers from around the world. She then quickly adds that there aren’t many lemur hospitals to begin with. “There is no book on lemur veterinary medicine, so our vets are literally writing the book.”
We then walk down a gravel road to another building, one of several indoor lemur enclosures. It reminds me of a grade school, with a large hallway down the middle and classrooms on each side, only in this case, the classrooms are lemur enclosures. We enter a side room first.
Sara Sorraia of the DLC. Photo by Carrie Dow.
“These are enrichments toys,” she says showing me a box full of Frisbees, Kong balls and ropes. “Lemurs are really smart. They’re primates! Especially the ones who don’t get to go out in the forest because of illness or behavioral issues, we want to make sure they get lots of enrichments. That promotes natural behaviors like foraging, reaching and climbing to get things.”
She then puts on a pair of vinyl gloves and shows me a bucket filled with food – green leafy veggies, apple slices, and dark brown rectangle objects that look like small dog biscuits.
“Lemur diets are handed out every morning. Every group gets its own diet. This (bucket) is for a brown lemur. We have a kitchen in the main building where these diets are prepared. Everything is weighed. Every species has a different diet.”
“The chow you saw in addition to the fruits and veggies,” she says pointing to the tiny brown bars. “That is called chow. It’s a nutritionally complete biscuit. Different species get different types of chow. That ensures that they get all their vitamins and minerals.”
She puts the bucket back and grabs another. “Here’s a blue-eyed black lemur diet,” she continues moving the contents around to show tomatoes slices, small pieces of corn on the cob, and what looks like zucchini chunks. “The veggies and fruits are all restaurant quality. We buy it from the same company that supplies food to the restaurants here in Durham. We also have our own garden. Organic garden. We compost all of our food waste from the kitchen and turn it into soil. We try to grow as much as we can on-site.”
I ask if the public are allowed to see lemur feedings. She says feedings are a part of the behind-the-scenes tours. “You can even help make enrichment for the animals and then see how it promotes those natural behaviors.”
We then go through a door to the enclosures, and she introduces me to two red-black lemurs named Presley and Ranomasina. They have several tree trunks with branches throughout the space along with climbing shelves on the walls. Lemur-sized hammocks, swings, and ropes made of repurposed firehose hang from the ceiling. There’s also an outdoor space they can go to when the weather is nice. I ask where the center’s lemurs come from.
“Most come from exchanges,” she explained. Very few of their lemurs are from Madagascar, although two were transferred from a Madagascar wildlife park in 2017. She says they usually come from trades from zoos and wildlife centers around the world. She then explains that DLC participates in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan program. It is a program that AZA facilities take part in to ensure genetic diversity of endangered species. The program puts together pairs of lemurs for breeding to keep the population of captive lemurs healthy.
We leave the indoor enclosure and walk to one of the outdoor enclosures called Natural Habitat Enclosures (NHEs), where lemurs are allowed to roam freely, climbing trees, running along the ground, and napping on branches. Sorraia says they have 12 total NHEs on the center’s 100 acres of forest. We come across the NHE No. 1’s lemur group lounging on branches in the sun.
“So, the mom is Sophia. She’s the one with the collar. The dominant female gets the collar (lemurs are a matriarchal society). They forage, just like they would in Madagascar.” Nearby on the ground is Sophia’s partner Randy and behind them are their two daughters.
“Do they know they’re not in Madagascar?” I ask.
Cardinal, a red fronted lemur, is in his late 20s. He’s a chill dude. Photo by Carrie Dow.
“That was a huge question when we first brought lemurs in,” she responds. “What would they find to eat? And is what they are eating nutritionally complete? We’ve identified a number of native species that they love. They love mimosa flowers and end up in the mimosa trees. Sifakas love sumac and they also love poison ivy, which is awesome. It doesn’t cause a reaction to them like it does us, which is great because they help clean up the poison ivy in the habitats.”
“The lemurs that are kept indoors,” she continues, “we bring those things in so they can enjoy them too. Oh! There are two more over there!”
Two furry lemurs, one reddish-brown and one light brown with a black nose, both with long, curled-up tails, are sitting on branches a few feet apart and stare at us.
“This is Cardinal. He’s our last red fronted lemur. He’s free ranged his whole life and he’s in his late 20s. His mate passed away; She was also in her late 20s. So, we paired him with a blue-eyed black lemur female. Even though they’re not the same species, they keep each other company.” His partner named Kidman is a few feet away.
Walking from one downed branch to another Cardinal get a little too close. Because I’m frozen, Sorraia tugs at my sleeve to get me to move away. No contact, remember? We move closer to Kidman whose vivid blue eyes are stunning.
“She is also an oldie, either 29 or 30 (years old). She’s one of my favorites. She was born here at the center and then went to the LA Zoo on a breeding recommendation. She was there for most of her life and now she’s come back here to retire.”
I comment that the lemurs look so relaxed around us. Sorraia says that is intentional. “A lot of rules go into that.”
Getrude (right, up close) and Ferdinand (on left in the back) checking out human visitors at the DLC. Photo by Carrie Dow.
We leave the enclosure and cross a wide maintenance road to another NHE housing the Coquerel sifakas (pronounced shi-fak). These lemurs are probably familiar to most people because former DLC resident Jovian was the inspiration (and live stand in) for the character Zoboomafoo from PBS show in the early 2000s. Coquerel sifakas are white-furred lemurs with russet brown patches, dark faces and intense golden yellow eyes.
“Here she comes,” says Sorraia as the female sifaka comes over to check us out first. Using all four limbs, grabbing, stretching and swinging, she appears to float down to us. Another one follows behind her.
“This is Gertrude and Ferdinand. These guys are a more terrestrial species. They spend about 50 percent of their time on the ground. They’re in big family groups so that’s why their tails stick straight up. So, if you’re in Madagascar, they’re tails are up like flags. Like a tourist flag. They can leap about 30 feet.” Gertrude, who is at our eye level on a tree trunk, leans forward towards Sorraia, who slowly backs up.
“She acted like she wanted to jump on me. If she comes your way, then walk around that way. Don’t let her jump on you.” We both back away on opposites sides a small building with fencing for walls called a “catch cage.” It’s where staff can have a lemur enter to do a quick visual check if a lemur appears to be sick or injured. We meet at the opposite corner of the building from Gertrude.
“She’s very interested in us right now. Much more so than usual so I think we’ll step out.” Looking back to make sure we aren’t followed, we leave the enclosure and then look at the pair from the safety of the other side of the fence. Ferdinand isn’t interested in us at all and jumps up on the catch cage roof. Getrude continues to watch intently from the tree.
Walking back to the visitor’s center, I ask if Sorraia has ever been to Madagascar. “I’ve been a couple times!” she says excitedly. “It’s incredible. The first time I went I wasn’t sure what to expect. I hiked through a reserve in southern Madagascar that had a bunch of ring tails (lemurs). I went to a rain forest to see rough lemurs. It was really cool, but it was kind of weird too, because it looked like being at the lemur center, except you have to be on a plane for 24 hours. I have photos I took in Madagascar that are indistinguishable from photos that I’ve taken here.”
“I think that’s cool because not everyone can make it to Madagascar,” I say. “They can come here instead.”
“True,” she agrees.
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If you would like to see lemurs without the 24-hour plane ride, visit the Duke Lemur Center. Guests must register and pay in advance online for all tours. Visit the website for the most up-to-date tour information.
The center has two “tourist” seasons. May-September is ‘in season’ with regularly scheduled tours throughout the summer. October-April is ‘off season’ because lemurs are warm-weather mammals. When the temperature drops into the 40s overnight, that’s too cold for lemurs and they are moved inside. Tours during off season happen when the temperatures are warm enough and they are announced a week in advance. Because they are weather dependent, tours can change on a moment’s notice.
See website for tour times and pricing.
The Duke Lemur Center, a slice of Madagascar in North Carolina. Photo by Carrie Dow.
