Best Eulemur enclosures and holdings / collections in zoos

Yes, the planting / landscaping of the enclosure is very lush indeed and I bet the lemurs and the mongoose enjoy it.

I read somewhere on a thread or perhaps a picture that the narrow striped mongooses may have been stressed out by how loud and boisterous the mongoose lemurs were.

I think it was @TeaLovingDave who may have said this in a picture but I can't really remember where I read it.

I don't think there is a reference to mongoose lemurs being kept anymore but there is for crowned lemurs so perhaps these have moved on or the former been replaced by the latter?

 

Historically, it would be really interesting to know what Eulemur species they have bred as I don't know much about this.

Currently I know that they still keep the Sclater's lemur and that this is a species that is very significant and long established / prioritized at the zoo.

 

Yep, thats it, sorry, my bad.

So did you get the impression that this mix wasn't very beneficial for the narrow striped mongoose?

 

Many lemur spp were kept at Hamerton historically. Currently we only have Ring-tailed, Black+White Ruffed and Collared, as the others were phased out to allow multiple groups of these three to be kept. Others kept in the past were Red Ruffed, Black, Red-fronted, White-fronted, Sanford's, White Collared, Crowned, Lesser Bamboo, Grey Mouse and Fat-tailed Dwarf. We imported and quarantined the original White Collared, Crowned and Lesser Bamboo Lemurs which went to Dr Bourne's private collection, and later to Linton under David Armitage, after Martin died.

 

This is a great enclosure, and it also resembles the dry areas where ring-tails live. I only would have preferred them to house another lemur from that area instead of black lemurs. Something like red-fronted lemurs maybe.

Both the ring-tails and the black lemurs are bachelor groups b.t.w. of males.

 

In terms of the UK it appears that Howletts have some Eulemurs too in a walkthrough style enclosure shared with black and white ruffed lemurs and ringtails.

I'm sure they have had quite a good breeding success ex-situ with them too but I suppose these will be going to Madagascar eventually.

Crowned lemurs.


Black lemurs (possibly not in the walkthrough anymore and unsuprisingly given their temperament with other lemur species).


Red bellied lemurs.



Photo credit to @WelshWildcat, @ro6ca66 and @Lemurs.

 

That is fascinating to hear Andrew and thank you for sharing. It seems that Hamerton had an enormous variety of lemur species once.

I have to commend you about the collared lemurs.

I was very impressed to hear that Hamerton never gave up on the species and breeding it ex-situ though many other zoos had failed with the collared and to show any interest in it.

I very much respect what you achieved with this species and your commitment to it.

 

Just out of curiosity, why do you think it resembles the dry forests ?

I mean perhaps some of the planting with succulents that can be seen towards the back of the enclosure gives it that look.

For me personally though it looks far more wetland like and perhaps more like the habitat of the Lac Aloatra bamboo lemur (but without the reeds).

 

Fair enough, it was almost a decade ago afterall

It would be interesting to find out if it has worked out well and if both species are able to go about their diurnal activity without getting too disturbed by the presence of the other though.

It is a great idea / concept for a mixed-species enclosure that is biogeographically correct.

 

The edge near the moat might look like a wetland, but that's really only the edge. I've seen the exhibit in person, and the inner part is laid with rocks, small shrubs, dead wood, succulents and herbaceous plants. It's not something like Bronx's exhibit, but for a low-tech outdoor exhibit it's not bad in replicating it. The bottom one is when it was just finished.

 

Yes, I see what you mean with the scrub foilage in the background but particularly with the bottom picture and I can definitely see what you mean about the replication of that sort of that arid look (spoiled a bit in terms of realism with the moat though).

 

The problem with these photos is also that the moat and the vegetation in the front is much more present then it is in real life.

 

Worth mentioning the Eulemur species kept ex-situ within the species range country in Tsimbazaza zoo in Madagascar too.

Not great by the standards of zoos in other countries but considering that Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world and these enclosures have been built in cooperation with European and North American zoos it is still significant for ex-situ and education.

Crowned lemur enclosure.

Sclater's lemur enclosure.



Red fronted brown lemur islands.


Photo credits to @Toddy and @Kittie_Kat.

 

Yes, I guess the photos don't really give a good perspective of the enclosure and its appearance at all.

 

Sclater's lemurs at Cologne zoo.


Quite an old-school 1960's looking indoor enclosure for this species.

Has anyone seen these and what their outdoor enclosure looks like ?

Photo credit to @Toddy.

 

Thanks for sharing @TeaLovingDave, much appreciated!

Well they aren't terrible looking enclosures by any means but they aren't great either, the planting is decently done though and they don't look as small as I imagined they would.

 

Signage and overall educational displays regarding Eulemurs in zoos has only really been briefly touched upon in this thread so I've found some pictures in the gallery of signage in zoos that keep these lemurs.

Olmense zoo in Belgium, pretty impressive signage and in multiple languages

Zoo Parc Overloon in the Netherlands, pretty good in my opinion and again highlights conservation.

Zoo Parc Overloon in the Netherlands, again a good and succint sign in my opinion.

Domaine de Peschary zoo in France, not terrible but not great either, could be improved.

Palmyre zoo in France, quite interesting in that it includes a significant amount of information about the in-situ conservation of the Sclater's lemur.

Givskud Zoo in Denmark, not terrible but not great either could also be improved.

Planckendael zoo in Belgium, I quite like that the black lemur is given prominence over the ring tailed in this series of signs .

Zoo Aquarium de Madrid in Spain, not keen on the amount of focus on the ring tailed lemur here considering that two other species are also kept and the font and graphics are a bit lacking too.

DierenPark Amersfoot zoo in the Netherlands, a different signage style and quite charming too despite the lack of information other than the name of species.

Burger's zoo in the Netherlands, an impressive little sign in multiple languages that really tries to educate the visitors and their misconceptions about the black lemur.

San Diego zoo in the USA, again I like how the Eulemur species signs are more prominent to the visitor than the ring tailed lemur.


Photo credits to @KevinB, @Maguari, @Toddy, @Maisie,@vogelcommando, @ThylacineAlive and @timmychompchomp.