Duke's secret in the forest

15 March 2010, The Herald Sun
URL: http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/6722400/article-Duke-s-secret-in-the-forest?instance=main_article

Tucked away in Duke Forest is the largest and most diverse collection of lemurs outside their native Madagascar.

The Duke Lemur Center is home to 213 of the prosimian primates. There is the aye-aye, the big-eared silly-looking creature with a bushy tail. There is also the ring-tailed lemur, perhaps the most recognizable, which raises its grey-and-black-striped tail in the air as it walks through grass. The center houses more than 20 species of lemurs -- gentle, endangered animals whose only natural habitat is the African island.

While open to the public, the center doesn't have the set-up it would like to serve large groups of visitors, so it's in the running for a $50,000 Pepsi Refresh Project grant.

The grant would help the center become more friendly to tours, providing, among other improvements, a new path.

The more people that visit the center, the more people that learn about lemurs and the more people who appreciate lemurs, the more people who might want to help them, said Keith Morris, the center's education program manager. The Duke Lemur Center is funded by Duke University, the National Science Foundation and private donations as well as tour sales, but has no extra money in its budget.

Morris said that lemurs are not typically a main attraction at zoos and conservation areas, so most people don't realize they are primates.

Visitors' first questions are often, "What is it?" he said.

The Lemur Center has more than 20 species of lemurs, all unique in their appearance and lives. The aye-aye is nocturnal, but not the ring-tailed lemur. The ring-tailed lemur, unlike its lemur brethren, spends half its time on the ground, not in the trees. A Coquerel's sifaka looks more like a monkey than other lemurs, swinging from branches and living in family groups. The white and brown Coquerel's sifakas are delicate leaf-eaters who live in the dry northwest forests of Madagascar.

In the habitat next door are mongoose lemurs that walk on all fours, unlike their sifaka neighbors that walk on two feet. There are the blue-eyed black lemurs and red-bellied lemurs. Lemurs with scent glands under their tails and scent glands on top of their heads. And the red-ruffed lemur, whose screeching alarm call would wake even the deepest sleeper. In the nocturnal area is the fat-tailed dwarf lemur, which only gains weight in its tail. Most lemurs live into their 20s.

Research at the center, started in the 1960s, causes no harm to the animals. Most of the time, researchers simply sit and watch, said operations manager Greg Dye. The center studies and serves as a safety net for lemurs. It keeps the genetic diversity high so that if needed, the center could help reintroduce the species to the wild. The center has worked with the government of Madagascar on a conservation center there since 1987, and is part of the international consortium the Madagascar Fauna Group.

Lemur Center development official Lari Hatley said slash-and-burn agriculture, dire poverty and political unrest in Madagascar have contributed to the plight of lemurs, who are found in no other country. Lemurs' natural predators are hawks, eagles and fossas, but humans are its number one threat.

"Now the Madagascar environment has degraded so much, it's imperative people know," Hatley said. She said the Pepsi grant would help the center raise awareness of the animals' plight. Aside from funding the work of the center and the Madagascar Fauna Group, the public can help by not buying rosewood, she said. The deforestation of rosewood trees, used in furniture and guitars, is destroying the lemurs' habitat. If people don't buy rosewood or ebony wood, Morris said, that will end demand for it.

At the Duke Lemur Center, the lemurs live in an open-air forest from May through October, and in outdoor fenced-in habitats in the colder months surrounded by tarps to protect them from the elements. Technicians feed the lemurs a mixed diet of monkey biscuit chow, fresh fruits and vegetables, and leaves. A training program helps the lemurs continue to learn new things.

"If I was a lemur, this is where I would want to live," Dye said.

He said the center is a biological treasure that is probably the best kept secret at Duke and in Durham. Lemurs at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham are on loan from the center. Dye and Morris hope that even the youngest visitors to the Lemur Center will become better environmental stewards or consider it as a career.