World Lemur Day 2018

Hello! Brittney Lie Tjauw here. I’m a member of the Primate Team, and today I’ll be talking a little bit about some of my favorite primates, lemurs! This past Saturday, we observed World Lemur Day here at the Zoo. So, just in case you were unable to attend, I will fill you in what you missed! This is a day for awareness and conservation education, as well as essentially having a big party for our eight lemurs. There are three species of lemurs at the Zoo: black-and-white-ruffed lemurs, crowned lemurs and ringtailed lemurs. On Saturday, they all received really fun enrichment in their habitat, such as grape jelly-filled raisin boards and oatmeal smear boards that we hung up for them to find, as well as painted cardboard boxes that they could play in.

Lemurs are naturally only found in one place in the whole world, the island of Madagascar, which means that it is very important to conserve that habitat. On Saturday, in celebration of the hundreds of lemur species that face the threat of extinction during our lifetimes, we had lemur buttons for sale that guests could purchase, and the proceeds went to Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group. This conservation organization protects the rich biodiversity of eastern Madagascar through conservation, research and education.

In addition to raising support on World Lemur Day, we like to provide our guests with some tips that they can leave with to help the lemurs’ wild counterparts. Buying sustainable wood from farmers and buying Madagascar vanilla are two small choices that can make a big difference to wild lemurs. Madagascar vanilla is farmed using sustainable practices, and the farmland provides the lemurs with habitat they can use!

I really enjoy celebrating the animal awareness days here at the Zoo to shed light on the plight many Zoo species face in the wild and the conservation efforts being done to help them. Thank you and hope to see you next year for World Lemur Day
Brittney Lie Tjauw
Keeper I, Primates