Collared Lemur (Eulemur collaris) Fact Sheet: Managed Care

Breeding (from Becker and Ferrie 2014)

• Program begun in mid 1960s
  • Undertaken by Duke Lemur Center
• Reproduction inconsistent since founding
  • Birth rate low
    • c. 2 births per year on average

History in Managed Care

• Europe
  • Historical notes
    • A male cared for at the Paris museum in 1812 was likely the type specimen first used to describe this lemur species (Hill 1953)
• North America (from Becker 2013 unless otherwise noted)
  • Breeding efforts in managed care
    • First birth in 1964
      • A male born at Duke Lemur Center (DLC)
    • DLC led efforts to understand reproduction in this species
      • All births between 1964 and 1991 were at this facility
    • Breeding success markedly improved in the early to mid-1980s (Becker and Ferrie 2014)

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZG)

• Historical notes
  • Few members of this species housed at SDZG (from Becker 2012; ZIMS 2015)
    • First individual in the early 1950s
      • This male was among the very first representatives of this species under care at a zoological facility within the United States
    • No other (known) members of this species at SDZG for another 6 decades (in 2013)
      • Most “brown lemurs” at SDZ belonged to the species Eulemur flavus
      • The zoo has also cared for E. albifrons, E. macaco

Collared lemur in the Cotswold Wildlife Park. Image credit: © Marie Hale at Flickr. Some rights reserved.