Discount to Meet Lemurs at ‘Lemurpalooza’

Duke faculty and staff have the opportunity to bring a new family member into their lives – by “adopting” a baby lemur.

The Duke Lemur Center is offering a half-off rate of a $25 tax-deductible donation for employees to attend Lemurpalooza, an event to celebrate the animals of the Lemur Center and highlight conservation efforts led by Duke’s unique living laboratory.

The event, which is from 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 3, includes self-guided tours with access to see lemurs up close, a painting created by the center’s lemurs and the ability to “adopt” a lemur, which comes with regular updates and photos of the animal sent to the adopting family.

The $25 donation covers an admission for an individual or an entire family, whether it’s two people or more. All donations go directly to impacting the lives of animals at the Duke Lemur Center, from providing food and veterinary care to radio collars worn by the lemurs that insure the safety of free-ranging lemurs. For an additional $25 ($50 total), visitors can “adopt” a lemur.

“It costs about $7,400 per year to care for each lemur and with about 250 lemurs, this is a great community-based fundraiser that helps support our mission in a fun way,” said Niki Barnett, educational programs manager at the Lemur Center. “There aren’t any other family-friendly events unique to Duke and Durham as this one.”

Among the seven lemurs that will be up for adoption is Raven, a fat-tailed dwarf lemur that was one of the Lemur Center’s “movie stars” featured in the IMAX documentary, Island of Lemurs: Madagascar.

Other lemurs include:

• Presley, a blue-eyed black lemur named after Elvis Presley. Blue-eyed black lemurs are one of two non-human primates to have truly blue eyes.
• Pompeiia, a four-year-old Coquerel’s sifaka who is one of less than 60 individuals of her species living in captivity.
• Thistle, a teacup-sized female mouse lemur.

The Lemurpalooza adoption event doesn’t include the ability to bring a lemur home. The “adoption” process provides updates and information to families who donate money to support each lemur.

Visitors to Lemurpalooza can bring their own picnic dinner and eat at the Lemur Center or buy food from NOSH, which will serve a barbecue-style dinner with options of burgers, brisket and portabella sandwiches. Sugarland bakery will offer desserts as well.

Tracy Cox, a Durham resident who attended last year’s Lemurpalooza with her family, will be back this year because she likes supporting lemur research. Last year, she “adopted” Red Admiral, a pygmy slow loris at the center.

“The event was like a picnic with really, really cute animals,” Cox said. “Having a crowd of people and kids running around made the Lemur Center especially festive. We probably would not have adopted Red Admiral without an event to get us to the Lemur Center. “

In addition to tours and educational opportunities, the Lemur Center will also hld a silent auction and raffle for goods from local businesses, Duke Lemur Center tours and more.

Reservations are required to join Lemurpalooza. To reserve a spot, call (919) 401-7252 or email janice.kalin@duke.edu.