Memories of Jovian

Within moments of the announcement of the death of Jovian, the tributes, memories and photos started pouring in for the beloved Coquerel's Sifaka.

For the millennials who grew up watching him bounce around during the opening of the popular TV show Zoboomafoo, Jovian was the entry point for learning about the fascinating species of primates known as lemurs. On Tuesday, they let the world know their thoughts and memories on the Duke Lemur Center's Facebook page, on the center's blog and elsewhere on social media.

The traffic to the obit was so heavy that it affected the performance of the Lemur Center website. By Friday morning, more than 7.5 million people had read the obit on the Duke Lemur Center and Duke University Facebook pages. This being a digital age, many of the thoughts came with photos of people meeting the star. 

"I was thrilled to have 'a moment' with Jovian during my Walking With The Lemurs tour in 2013," Ginny Hall wrote. "It was because of Zoboomafoo that I came to love lemurs and he always will be the face of the species to me. RIP Jovian -- you will be missed!"

A number of the children who watched Jovian on television grew up to work with animals as adults.  Brandon Semel wrote about meeting Jovian when Brandon was a child. "I first met Jovian when I was 9 years old! I got to care for him 9 years later while working at the center and got to see him one last time last week. He will be missed."

The love and memories extended to the PBS Kids Facebook page, the network on which "Zoboomafoo" appeared for many years.