Best Eulemur enclosures and holdings / collections in zoos

There are also 5 Helmeted Guineafowl, 3 Radiated Tortoises, 4.0 Ring-tailed Lemurs, and 2.1 Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs.

 

Thanks for your comment @Dassie rat !

That is quite an impressive Eulemur collection that they have at Mullhouse (just under half of the species of the genus).

Its great to see that they are keeping the more endangered species like the Sclater's and mongoose lemurs !

I'll check out some shots of their enclosures in the zoochat gallery but what is your opinion on these ?

 

Yes, I totally agree with you on that point, I would definitely like to see most primate enclosures in zoos to be far larger than they are.

Ah I see, so the crowned lemurs don't have all that space to themselves, well thats a bit sad but nevermind its still a great enclosure.

 

Yes, and while there are a lot of animals in it, it's still very spacious and every animal has space to themselves.

 

I believe so.

Yes to the mongoose, not sure about the Sclater's.

 

They have not. The pair they have are quite old, so unfortunately, we probably won't be seeing any in the future.

 

This is a couple of shots of enclosures at Mullhouse zoo in France , credit to @lintworm and @Maguari.

This enclosure for crowned lemurs is not bad, could be much larger but seems adequate for the pair apparently kept there.



This enclosure for Sclater's lemur is really quite disappointing in my opinion, I agree with Lintworm's comment that the enclosure could be far better for such a critically endangered species.

 

Sorry, I'm a little confused

Do you mean to say the mongoose lemurs have bred or that these are old or that the Sclater's are old and haven't bred ?

 

I can see what you mean by the enclosures being a bit basic at Philadelphia @Coelacanth18.

Some really strange looking enrichment for these species too, photo credit @Baldur and @MagicYoung.

 

This is quotation from their 2019 annual report:
"The overall situation for the blue ‑eyed black lemurs is even worse – there are only 27 individuals in 11 institutions in Europe. In 2019, the only young born in Europe was male in Ostrava. The other two young were born in the USA, but they did not survive. Thus, the only surviving offspring of this species kept in human care in the world in 2019."

Unfortunately, the mother (Fuoro) of that young is now 24 or 25 years old and past breeding age. Her daughter (3) will hopefully breed soon.

 

Even more impressive that Ostrava was the only zoo in Europe to breed the species and so suprising too that it occurred in such a substandard enclosure.

I wonder what environmental conditions they managed to provide that facilitated this breeding and successful birth ?

 

It looks from google images like the two Eulemur species kept at San Diego zoo appear to be Sclater's lemur and the mongoose lemur.

Can anyone confirm is this is correct?

 

@Jana Seems that in 2020 the status of Ostrava with the blue-eyed black lemur changed with the birth of this lemur species at Jacksonville zoo in the USA.

 

I don´t think Ostrava offers some special conditions. The main problem is the captive population in Europe itself. Male-skewed, many animals too old, incompatible pairs, and part are hand-reared animals who seem unable to breed (probably not able to form cohesive pair that would copulate).

Captive population in Europe is probably already functionally extict, due to past mismanagement and some bad luck. Unless the US would donate some young animals.

And here a video about money fundrising for wild Sclater´s lemurs, including eng subtitles. Neat to see many children participating.

 

I've read that this species is very hard to breed in zoos due to some as yet unknown environment or social variable that promotes breeding which is very hard to replicate in captivity.

I don't think anyone really knows what this condition is yet and certainly there needs to be much more research done into investigating the issue given the urgency of keeping the Sclater's ex-situ.

That said, I agree that past mismanagement and skewed sex ratios and animals that have passed the age of being reproductively viable can't have helped things in terms of captive breeding and are unlikely to in the future too.

I'll certainly check out this video as it looks interesting and the species and its conservation is fascinating.

 

Out of all the good exhibits I've seen for Eulemur species, I think 2 are worth mentioning here :
- Zürich - Masoala (Eulemur rufus)
- San Francisco - Decent size Island but huge mature trees, it was really something to see lemurs up so high. I believe the island is a rotating exhibit, they have 4 Eulemur species at the zoo, not sure which one has access to this exhibit though. (Eulemur flavifrons, coronatus, rubriventer, fulvus rufus)

Photos by Hipporex

 

I was saying that their Blue-eyed Black Lemurs are old and have not bred and the Mongoose Lemurs have bred.

 

Those are not the only Eulemur species kept at the San Diego zoo, they also have Collared Brown Lemur. I am working on a comprehensive assessment of the San Diego Zoos Eulemur species right now and their exhibits right now. I also didn't know they had Mongoose lemur, do you know where they keep them?
Also, I believe the toys in your earlier photos are popsicle makers

 

San Diego zoo holds two species of Eulemur in their large African Rocks mixed lemur exhibit


Credit to Moebelle for the photos

 

Ah I see, well that is a shame, it is a beautiful species and the situation ex-situ unlike most lemurs kept in zoos is terrible.

On the plus side, mongoose lemurs definitely don't seem to have the same issues with breeding in captivity as Sclater's.