Best Eulemur enclosures and holdings / collections in zoos

Thanks for sharing @GiratinaIsGod !

Yes, I agree, this is a beautiful looking enclosure indeed and I bet the black lemurs really benefit from being held here.

 

I definitely agree with you on that point @Jurek7.

There seem to be some fantastic lemur exhibits in French zoos which are really noteworthy.

I've seen a couple of these with Eulemurs at Le Parc des Felins, Zoo Champrepus and Cerza which are truly fantastic enclosures.

 

Yes indeed. Around this "village" there is a large area in which Ring-tailed, Ruffed and Red-bellied lemurs are free-roaming .

 

I think its a really great idea to have these Malagasy type cultural elements within the walkthrough enclosure as it connects / portrays the human culture of Madagascar with its biodiversity and conservation as part of the solution rather as the problem.

 

Never been there and the Reserve Zoologique Calviac in France only have two Eulemur species, the red bellied lemur and the crowned lemur.

However, some of the enclosures look wonderful in terms of how naturalistic the woodland surroundings are (though a little rustic looking in other ways).










Photo credits to @Corby93 and @Tamanoir.

 

I really think zoos in France seem to be unbeatable in terms of the lemur walkthrough enclosures.

The Eulemur collection at Le Valle des Singes in France is really quite impressive in both the species kept but most of all the enclosures.

The zoo keeps black, crowned and red bellied lemur and these are all maintained in mixed species walkthrough exhibits.

One of the woodland lemur walkthrough enclosures is apparently 6000 m² large !

There seem to be many climbing and roaming opportunities for the lemurs within the walkthrough enclosures.

The surroundings look absolutely beautiful for the animals kept here.

The access that the animals have to the trees and woodlands is undoubtedly educational for the visitors to see them moving and behaving in such naturalistic ways.

The woodland and its mix of temperate tree species seems to encourage naturalistic behaviours such as foraging for food too which must be good for the wellbeing and enrichment of the lemurs.


Photo credits to @Therabu and @lintworm

 

The most impressive Eulemur collection in the UK in terms of species kept appears to me to be Africa Alive zoo with black, red bellied, Sclater's, crowned and mongoose lemurs.

The enclosures pictured in the gallery look good (spacious , plenty of climbing opportunities etc) but don't appear to be anything spectacular and seem to be landscapes in the classic "primate island" model and an open lawn style walkthrough that is commonly seen in most zoos.

Has anyone visited this zoo and seen the enclosures for these species ?

If so what are your impressions ?















Photo credits to @Richie Hell, @overread and @zoogiraffe.

 

I would say Linton Zoo are rather strong players on the UK Eulemur scene - three of their four lemur species are members of the genus, namely the crowned, mongoose and white-collared lemurs (the fourth species is the red ruffed). I haven't visited in a fairly long time and am not sure of the current state of the exhibits but there are several enclosures that have housed Eulemur at various times and also a lemur house which has smaller mesh enclosures that can also be linked to a larger open-topped enclosure.

I think this enclosure is for white-collared lemurs:
View - ZooChat

This enclosure (the first enclosure by the zoo entrance, if I recall) is for mongoose lemurs:
View of Mongoose Lemur enclosure - ZooChat

This is a view of the outside of the lemur house:
View of Lemur House - ZooChat

This is the larger open-topped enclosure connected to the lemur house:
Open-topped lemur exhibit at Linton 05/04/10 - ZooChat

 

Thanks for sharing @DesertRhino150 !

I'll check this Linton Zoo place out, it seems like they have quite a lot of the Eulemur species.

 

Good enrichment in terms of planting of enclosures at Linton evidently and this white collared lemur certainly seems to approve.

 

The enclosures don't look too bad at all, a little rustic in comparison to most zoos maybe, but it is ultimately the husbandry and captive breeding which counts and on those counts it does seem to be good.

Is the large open topped enclosure a walkthrough for the public ?

 

I think Hamerton zoo despite having only one species of this lemur genus are worth a mention too in terms of a UK collection with conservation significance for Eulemurs.

Afterall, it is largely thanks to them that the endangered collared lemur persists ex-situ, a very far sighted and admirable action in my opinion (which many other zoos failed to show interest in achieving).







Photo credits to @ro6ca66.

 

They have bred more white-collared lemur than anywhere in Europe(at least 10 currently held) , also bred the other 2 plus Sclater's lemur in the past (not held for around 10 years) and red ruffed also held lesser bamboo lemur about 8 years ago. Top zoo for lemurs

 

I had no idea about that and that is indeed very impressive.

How many times have they successfully bred the white collared lemur ?

About the Sclater's lemur are you sure that they bred this species in the past ?

I thought it had only been bred in captivity up to this point by Ostrava, Jacksonville and by Apenheul ?

 

Cologne zoo bred very many lemurs, including several Eulemur. They were kept in the same old lemur house as the doucs, which is even smaller than Ostrava.

 

The Bartlett Society website lists Linton as first UK breeding for Sclater's lemur on 8th May 2002, which seems accurate to me.

They currently have around 12 white collared lemur at Linton, most of which have been bred there, with those moved on, I would suspect at least 10 have been bred but I can find out exactly how many if you need to know

 

The Omaha zoo has a pretty decent Eulemur collection, with outdoor and indoor areas. Sadly, their indoor areas are very fake-looking and dimly lit, with not many visitors visiting the Madagascar house when I went there. Perhaps that is a good thing however because I wouldn't be able to see a very active Grey mouse lemur if there were large crowds around! Also, the San Diego zoo has a remarkable habitat for all of its lemur species.

 

Linton seems to me to have quite a nice old-school rustic and non-commercial vibe to it.

There is a good variety of Eulemur species with crowned lemur, mongoose lemur and white collared lemurs (historically Sclater's too apparently).

Crowned lemur, apparently a pair are kept called Angie and Charlie. I'm not sure if these lemurs have been successfully bred in the past at Linton.


White collared lemurs are apparently prolific breeders at Linton and the species is a strongpoint of the zoo with the European breeding programe / studbook being coordinated by the zoo (Linton held 10 of Europe's 14 white fronted lemur in 2013).


Mongoose lemurs too have bred here, with the last record I've been able to find of birth of young being in 2011(sure there have been more since though).


The enclosures look utilitarian but decent for these species and breeding success with their white collared lemurs more than proves that the wellbeing / husbandry of the animals kept is excellent here.


Though rustic the enclosures are well furnished and not at all aesthetically ugly and I bet they do the job very well.

Plus the fact that all of the species here have a well landscaped / planted larger open topped enclosure that they can access makes all the difference IMO.

On the downside some of the signage looks like it has seen better days and could be updated (though this is an old photo so perhaps it has been updated since this was taken?).


Photo credits to @littleRedPanda, @Zooguy11, @zoogiraffe, @Peckyboi, @Tim May, @GillP, @Mike11, @Maguari and @mhale.

 

Ah I see, but though there may have been successful breeding and birth of the Sclater's did the offspring survive ?

Its just I've read online (could be incorrect information though) that Sclater's lemurs have only very rarely and recently been bred in captivity with offspring surviving.

Well of course it would be interesting to know how many white collared lemurs have been bred, yes that would be fantastic, but only do it if it isn't too much trouble or time to find that information.

 

It has lovely planting, as with many exhibits at Newquay, and is an interesting combination. I haven't seen the mongooses on either of my last two visits, so unsure as to how both species get on