Best Eulemur enclosures and holdings / collections in zoos

Onychorhynchus coronatus

Onychorhynchus coronatus

Well-Known Member
I've been doing some thinking and reading about the necessity of ex-situ Eulemur conservation lately given how dire the situation facing many of these is in the wild in Madagascar.

I wanted to start this thread specifically about the genus within zoos and discuss what the best enclosures for these species look like and what are the best holdings / collections out there.

What are the best enclosures for and holdings / collections of Eulemur species in zoos in your opinion?

Please feel free to post replies and pictures in the comment section below.
 
HungarianBison said:
Certainly Ostrava!
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So there aren't any photos on zoochat of Ostrava zoos lemurs unfortunately

However, I checked out their website and it appears their Eulemur collection is really quite impressive and consists of the following species :

-White fronted brown lemur

-White collared brown lemur

-Red bellied lemur

- Mongoose lemur

-Black lemur

-Blue-eyed black / Sclater's lemur


Which means they are just missing six species to have a full house in terms of the Eulemur genus.

What are the enclosures like for these animals though ?
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
What are the enclosures like for these animals though ?
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In a word, dire. The only decent photo I can find in the gallery - my own being pretty poor - is this one; the middle cage in this photo holds a mixture of Sclater's Lemur, Black Lemur and White-fronted Lemur per my notes from Oct 2019.

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One or two of the Eulemur species held are also kept in rather more pleasant outdoor island exhibits, however. From memory, I saw red-bellied and mongoose lemurs in these islands.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
In a word, dire. The only decent photo I can find in the gallery - my own being pretty poor - is this one; the middle cage in this photo holds a mixture of Sclater's Lemur, Black Lemur and White-fronted Lemur per my notes from Oct 2019.

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One or two of the Eulemur species held are also kept in rather more pleasant outdoor island exhibits, however.
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Thank you for the information and photo @TeaLovingDave !

Wow... the enclosures truly are dire indeed, I was thinking they would be quite impressive to go with the diversity of species kept but those are not at all what I would have expected.

I can't imagine their Sclater's lemurs will be breeding in those kinds of conditions (perhaps they should be moved elsewhere ?).
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Thank you for the information and photo @TeaLovingDave !

Wow... the enclosures truly are dire indeed, I was thinking they would be quite impressive to go with the diversity of species kept but those are not at all what I would have expected.

I can't imagine their Sclater's lemurs will be breeding in those kinds of conditions (perhaps they should be moved elsewhere ?).
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Such a jarring contrast of enclosure style to the ones in the picture, it seems like Ostrava has a mix of good and terrible Eulemur enclosures.
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Ostrava is very much a zoo of two halves - much of it is excellent and among the best which can be found in the Czech Republic, and indeed Central Europe as a whole, but large swathes of the zoo are very outdated and crumbling, and are pretty much unchanged from the days of the Cold War. The latter areas are steadily decreasing in number as new and excellent exhibit complexes are built to replace them, but the Monkey House (which also holds Lion-tailed Macaque, Diana Monkey, Mandrill, White-cheeked Gibbon and Hanuman Langur alongside lemurs) is definitely one of the most glaring examples still present.

For instance, this is the Diana Monkey exhibit in said house (I apologise for the blurry quality):

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....whilst this is the new Diana Monkey exhibit complex elsewhere in the zoo:

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...which also includes several off-show areas.
 

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Besides the obviously world-famous Duke Lemur Center, within the United States the San Francisco Zoo is known for its lemur collection (consisting of Black-and-White Ruffed, Ring-tailed, Crowned, Red-bellied, Red-fronted Brown, possibly Red Ruffed, and Coquerel's Sifaka), and quite large, well-regarded outdoor exhibit for the Eulemur, Lemur, and Varecia species (the sifaka have a different enclosure):

full

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PC @Hipporex

Philadelphia Zoo also has a great lemur collection of around half a dozen species, although only two of them are Eulemur (Mongoose and Blue-eyed Black). Their enclosures are more basic, consisting largely of multiple indoor habitats connected by the zoo's elevated trail system.
 
This exhibit will have a breeding pair of Crowned Lemurs (they're off-exhibit currently). It's the best lemur exhibit I've seen and is very good quality, considering how small this zoo is - it's only around 2.5 acres.
New Madagascar Exhibit - View Through Glass Viewing Window

New Madagascar Exhibit - View Through Glass Viewing Window

The new Madagascar exhibit is a 1.5 million dollar (USD) project, that is the first major step...
New Madagascar Exhibit - View From Inside Viewing Pavilion

New Madagascar Exhibit - View From Inside Viewing Pavilion

The new Madagascar exhibit is a 1.5 million dollar (USD) project, that is the first major step...
New Madagascar Exhibit - Recirculating Pool

New Madagascar Exhibit - Recirculating Pool

The new Madagascar exhibit is a 1.5 million dollar (USD) project, that is the first major step...
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Ostrava is very much a zoo of two halves - much of it is excellent and among the best which can be found in the Czech Republic, and indeed Central Europe as a whole, but large swathes of the zoo are very outdated and crumbling, and are pretty much unchanged from the days of the Cold War. The latter areas are steadily decreasing in number as new and excellent exhibit complexes are built to replace them, but the Monkey House (which also holds Lion-tailed Macaque, Diana Monkey, Mandrill, White-cheeked Gibbon and Hanuman Langur alongside lemurs) is definitely one of the most glaring examples still present.

For instance, this is the Diana Monkey exhibit in said house (I apologise for the blurry quality):

View attachment 467785

....whilst this is the new Diana Monkey exhibit complex elsewhere in the zoo:

full


full


full


...which also includes several off-show areas.
Click to expand...

Yes, it certainly seems to be as you've described a zoo of two halves, it sort of reminds me of Zoologico de San Juan de Aragon in Mexico a little.

Some of those outdoor enclosures do look excellent for monkeys and lemurs though and I'm sure the wellbeing of the occupants is at its optimum.

It is just a shame about the ones in the photo as they do look like a relict of zoos in the days when the country was still behind the iron curtain.

That said, it does look like they are slowly modernizing their facilities though and hopefully those Sclater's lemurs won't be kept within those enclosures for the rest of their lives

Jana said:
Yes, part of lemurs is kept in old monkey house and part is on new islands.

Regarding Sclater´s lemurs, this zoo has around 7-8 of them in more groups and has bred them in recent years.
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That is quite a lot of Sclater's indeed considering that there aren't even that many of them kept ex-situ and it is interesting to hear they have bred too (clearly aspects other than their enclosure are not too bad I guess).
 
One of the most extensive lemur collections in Europe is at Mulhouse Zoo
According to ZTL, Mulhouse has
Blue-eyed black lemur (Eulemur flavifrons)
Crowned lemur (E coronatus)
Mongoose lemur (E mongoz)
Red-bellied lemur (E rubriventer)
White-collared brown lemur (E cinereiceps)
 
Fignewton said:
This exhibit will have a breeding pair of Crowned Lemurs (they're off-exhibit currently). It's the best lemur exhibit I've seen and is very good quality, considering how small this zoo is - it's only around 2.5 acres.
New Madagascar Exhibit - View Through Glass Viewing Window

New Madagascar Exhibit - View Through Glass Viewing Window

The new Madagascar exhibit is a 1.5 million dollar (USD) project, that is the first major step...
New Madagascar Exhibit - View From Inside Viewing Pavilion

New Madagascar Exhibit - View From Inside Viewing Pavilion

The new Madagascar exhibit is a 1.5 million dollar (USD) project, that is the first major step...
New Madagascar Exhibit - Recirculating Pool

New Madagascar Exhibit - Recirculating Pool

The new Madagascar exhibit is a 1.5 million dollar (USD) project, that is the first major step...
Click to expand...

That is quite a lot of space for a pair of crowned lemurs, do they plan to keep any other species with them or is it just for them ?

Nice viewing facilities for the public to appreciate the beauty of these primates too, looks awesome!

Must admit I like the idea of them having this great enclosure entirely to themselves as they are my favourite Eulemur species and indeed my favourite lemur species too.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Besides the obviously world-famous Duke Lemur Center, within the United States the San Francisco Zoo is known for its lemur collection (consisting of Black-and-White Ruffed, Ring-tailed, Crowned, Red-bellied, Red-fronted Brown, possibly Red Ruffed, and Coquerel's Sifaka), and quite large, well-regarded outdoor exhibit for the Eulemur, Lemur, and Varecia species (the sifaka have a different enclosure):

full

full

PC @Hipporex

Philadelphia Zoo also has a great lemur collection of around half a dozen species, although only two of them are Eulemur (Mongoose and Blue-eyed Black). Their enclosures are more basic, consisting largely of multiple indoor habitats connected by the zoo's elevated trail system.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing @Coelacanth18 !

Those looks like some really great enclosures for their lemurs at San Francisco, large and very green and evidetly with some trees to climb too.

So, San francisco only keep three Eulemur species, the red bellied, crowned and red-fronted brown lemurs ?

Great to hear that Philadelphia keep the Sclater's and the mongoose lemur, have they bred these yet ?

I'll have to have a look in the gallery and see if I can find some shots of these animals and their enclosures.

Westcoastperson said:
San Diego has two species of Eulemur, one species of propithecus, one species of varecia, and one species of Lemur all in one large exhibit in Africa Rocks
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That comes as quite a suprise to me actually as I would have assumed San Diego zoo to have a lot more Eulemurs.

What species are kept ?

I've checked their website but though they list ring tailed lemurs there is no mention of any Eulemur.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
That is quite a lot of space for a pair of crowned lemurs, do they plan to keep any other species with them or is it just for them ?
Click to expand...
I'd say this is a good size, especially for a breeding pair. It is larger in comparison to older exhibits but I think that's good. We need more larger and open exhibits for primates and lemurs, especially ones as stunning as Crowned lemurs
 
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