Twin ring-tailed lemurs born at Honolulu Zoo
COURTESY HONOLULU ZOO
Twin ring-tailed lemurs were born on April 18 to Remi, a 5-year-old female, and Finn, a 4-year-old male, at the Honolulu Zoo. Their 10-month old brother, Clark, was born at the Honolulu Zoo on June 10.
The Honolulu Zoo, which is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was blessed on Easter Sunday, April 18, with the birth of twin ring-tailed lemurs.
The twins are the offspring of parents Remi, a 5-year-old female, and Finn, a 4-year-old male. Their 10-month old brother, Clark, was born at the Honolulu Zoo on June 10. Both parent lemurs arrived separately at the Honolulu Zoo in the fall of 2018 with hopes of bearing offspring. The five lemurs are living at the zoo’s Primate Islands.
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“The Honolulu Zoo is pleased and excited to have twin newborn lemurs to expand our lemur collection and help further the conservation of this endangered species,” Honolulu Zoo Director Linda Santos said today in a news release. “Both babies and mother are doing well together with the entire family.”
Ring-tailed lemurs are listed as endangered and only can be found living in the wild in Madagascar. They are recognized for their approximate 2-foot long black and white banded tails. The gestation period for lemurs is about 4-1/2 months.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers lemurs to be the world’s most endangered mammals, noting that as of 2013, up to 90% of all lemur species face extinction within the next 20 to 25 years. Their main threats are hunting and trapping, logging and wood harvesting, and converting forests into agricultural land.
The Honolulu Zoo worked together with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Ring-Tailed Lemur Species Survival Plan to bring the breeding pair to the zoo.
