Britt Keith, the Primate Technician Supervisor at the Duke Lemur Center, lead me down the hall, excited to show me the new baby Coquerel’s sifaka (Propithecus verrauxi subsp. coquereli), the same species Zoboomafoo was. I was excited because Coquerel's sifakas (pronounced 'shi-fak') was my favorite species. They have beautiful white and dark red fur (you can only tell this if you get up close) and their faces are so sweet.
The new mother jumped into the window from the outside but waited timidly. Britt fetched a peanut to lure her up to the ledge on the enclosure door. Before she would jump, two males jumped up to get the two peanuts. After they jumped away, she jumped up and sat down. A small furry head peeked over her legs and stared sleepily for a moment at us. It was so adorable and so tiny.
In the corners, the males chewed on their peanuts. Britt point to one of them and said, “That’s Zoboomafoo.” It was like meeting a movie star, and he knew it. He jumped up to the ledge next to the door and stared down at us from his perch like he knew he as that cool. “He and his father played Zoboomafoo.” I also learned that some of the shots of the live lemur were shot here, especially the ones of him jumping through the woods. The rest of the show was shot in Canada.
The baby made one more appearance. This time it was more interested in the strangely similar creatures starting back at it. The mother seemed to lose interest in us though and hopped outside.
I’ve been at the Duke Lemur Center for over a year now. While I walk by the enclosures every week and hear the foreign calls echo in the woods around the garden, out of the entire experience I found there is nothing like staring into the eyes of a lemur. It is hard to think we are similar to them. Working so close by them and being so close is almost like a family reunion.
