When visiting Tiger Creek, you've probably noticed that we care for many other critters besides big cats. You've likely seen and heard our dynamic Ring-Tailed Lemur duo, Lily and Leonard! Lily and Leonard are both very outgoing girls who love to interact with our tour groups. They will swing about their yard, seemingly flying from branch to branch to come as close as they can to the crowd. They will greet groups with loud coos and they love the "oohs" and "awes" they get in return! Lemurs are incredibly smart and need to be mentally stimulated each and every day. Lily and Leonard love solving puzzles and using problem solving skills to find tasty treats hidden or hung throughout their yard. They also love their training sessions.
All of Tiger Creek's animals are trained to participate in voluntary veterinary care. Lily and Leonard are able to show their left and right hands, open their mouths, and many other cues that make caring for them each and every day possible! Today we celebrate World Lemur Day, and while the day is for the celebration of all (100+ species!), we want to focus on Ring-Tailed Lemurs.
For Ring-Tailed Lemurs, girls run the world! They are matriarchal and our girls never let us forget it. A group of Ring-Tailed Lemurs can go by many names, my personal favorite being "conspiracy". They communicate with their troop and rivals by a variety of vocalizations and rely heavily on olfactory senses. Lemurs have scent glands on the inside of their wrist which they use to mark trees as their own. Male lemurs even have a small spur on their wrist, which can be used to pierce the bark of a tree to spread their scent even deeper! They will also run their tail through their hands, gathering the scent on it, before flicking their tail at another Lemur. This is called a "stink fight"!
In Madagascar, Lemurs are vital to their environment as seed dispersers and pollinators. But they can't seem to keep up with the massive deforestation happening in their own home. YOU can help combat this! When shopping for new furniture, look for the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification to ensure the wood harvested to make the furniture was done in an ethical way.
Today we celebrate Lily and Leonard, and all their look-a-likes! All Lemurs have a very important job and many of the fruits we eat daily would not be possible without them. These incredibly clever animals deserve appreciation every day and with your help, we can help save them from extinction to allow many future generation to enjoy seeing them, working with them (looking at you, future animal keepers!) and learning about them.
