WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Palm Beach Zoo is marking spring break with a week of special lemur-themed activities for kids, including daily educational chats with zoologists and an afternoon craft and parade event.
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All week long, the zoo will host lemur chats twice a day. At 2 p.m., children can make their own lemur tails before joining a lemur parade to the zoo's peninsula to learn more about the animals.
WPTV First Alert Meteorologist James Wieland spoke with with Devin Clarke, the zoo's primate specialist, who said the lemurs were already feeling the excitement.
The zoo is home to three species of lemurs — red ruffed lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs, and ring-tailed lemurs — all of which share the same habitat area. Clarke explained that while they live side by side at the Palm Beach Zoo, the species come from different parts of Madagascar, the island off the eastern coast of Africa, where all lemurs are found exclusively in the wild.
"Ring-tailed lemurs are found mainly in southern Madagascar. Red ruffed and black and white ruffed lemurs are found in northern Madagascar, so they're completely different geographically, and these two sets of lemurs are separated just by one river," Clarke said.
All three species are listed as endangered or worse. Both ruffed lemur species are critically endangered, while ring-tailed lemurs are classified as endangered. Because lemurs exist only in Madagascar, habitat loss poses a unique and serious threat.
"They have nowhere else to move to if they're deforested or anything else happens," Clarke said.
Beyond their conservation status, Clarke said each lemur at the zoo has its own distinct personality. A group of lemurs is called a conspiracy, and the animals live in a matriarchal society where females hold the dominant role. Among the zoo's red ruffed lemurs, a mother-daughter pair named Moon and Akisa stand out.
"Moon is a little bit more standoffish, watches everything else that's going on, kind of like that motherly figure that watches everything. Akisa is a little bit more dominant. She's a little bit more gung-ho about everything, and the boys kind of fall in line," Clarke said.
Visitors who hear the lemurs' loud calls shouldn't be alarmed, Clarke said.
"Many people, when they hear that at the zoo, they come running over thinking something's happening. Most of the time they're just laying down yelling at each other," Clarke said.
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