LEMUR SANCTUARY
The Calgary Zoo opened its lemur exhibit to the public Wednesday, while working to restore the primates’ habitat in Madagascar.
The lemurs have landed.
The Calgary Zoo on Wednesday unveiled its newest furry feature, an interactive exhibit that allows visitors to St. George’s Island to get up close and personal with Madagascar’s most well-known ambassadors.
Land of the Lemurs, an $8-million, half-hectare exhibit on the island’s east side officially opened its doors to the public, packed with three subspecies of lemurs — ringtailed, red-ruffed and black-andwhite ruffed.
Crowds lined up to stroll through the rope, tree- and rock-strewn exhibit that allows guests to mingle with a baker’s dozen of the endangered primates who are allowed to curiously interact with zoo visitors.
“We are so excited to open this unique experience for our visitors; it combines our expertise in conservation and visitor engagement,” said zoo president and CEO Clement Lanthier.
“Madagascar is a biodiversity hot spot with many species, and is the only place in the world where lemurs are found.”
Though there are 103 subspecies of lemurs, some 94 per cent of them are at risk of extinction. And over the past few years, the number of critically endangered lemur species have more than doubled, from 11 to 24, while those considered endangered have risen from 16 to 49.
“It is clear that a solution requires efforts that simultaneously help wildlife and the people of Madagascar, and our work on the island nation will help to link conserving lemurs with helping local communities thrive,” Lanthier said.
“If we do nothing, by 2050 the majority of lemur species will be gone.”
The zoo’s lemur exhibit is more than just an attraction that’s expected to boost annual attendance by as much as 40,000. As visitors engage with the inquisitive primates, the zoo is partnering with the University of Calgary and the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Neb., to help restore not only the native lemur population in Madagascar, but help the nation’s povertystricken populace as well.
It’s a partnership that includes a $100,000 commitment over the next four years to employ locals to build tree nurseries to help replenish the devastated rain forest on the 587,000-square-kilometre island.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said while the city’s newest additions will be a boost for tourism, it also shows that Calgary is a city that recognizes it plays a part in maintaining the environment.
“We in Calgary are about as far away from Madagascar as any place in the world and we’re playing a role in saving lemurs,” he said.
“I hope that lots of people get bit — not by the lemurs, but by the bug of conservation.”
The exhibit itself houses seven ring-tailed lemurs, the boldest of the trio of species who have seem to have little problem checking out the parade of visitors to their enclosure. All female, a pair of them, Celeste and Joanna, seem to be the co-troop leaders.
Joining them in the main area are a quartet of red-ruffed lemurs, much more shy than their ringtailed cousins but still occasionally stricken by the exploration bug. There are three males and one female in the troop.
Sequestered from the others are the most critically endangered of the bunch, a pair of black-andwhite ruffed lemurs — one male and one female — which officials hope will eventually be a breeding pair.
The exhibit marks the zoo’s first major feature that’s opened since the Penguin Plunge in 2012. It won’t hold that title for very long, as officials work to complete the Panda Passage enclosure in time for next May’s arrival of two adult giant pandas and their two cubs.