The Duke Lemur Center will give visitors a closer look into the world of lemurs at a fundraising event next week.
DLC will hold its second Lemurpalooza, a celebration and educational event open to the Duke and Durham community, Friday Oct. 3. Lemurpalooza aims to raise awareness for lemurs and their endangerment and for the center itself, in addition to serving as a major fundraising event. Visitors will have a unique opportunity to explore the center, picnic and participate in educational activities. People can also meet and interact with lemurs and adopt sponsorship of lemurs living at the center.
“[The Lemur Center] is a special, unique and beautiful resource we have that we want to introduce everybody in the Triangle to,” said Janice Kalin, the center's Adopt a Lemur coordinator.
The primary goals of Lemurpalooza are to raise awareness and funding for the Lemur Center, Kalin said. Lemurs are among the planet's most endangered animals, and Duke has the largest collection of lemurs outside of their native Madagascar. It requires approximately $7,400 a year to care for each lemur, and with 20 different species and 250 different animals, the center's operating costs are considerable.
“It absolutely helps in raising awareness," said Faye Goodwin, a junior who has worked as an educational tour guide at the center for two years. "I’ve seen a huge increase in guests at the Lemur Center and our publicity. I really think Lemurpalooza helps so much with that... [Last time] the phone was ringing off the hook.”
Kalin noted that the center can normally only be visited through scheduled tours, but during Lemurpalooza, the area will be open for visitors to browse and explore the center on their own. Visitors will also have the opportunity to participate in tours and interact with keepers and lemur experts that night as usual.
Lemurpalooza is also an opportunity to increase donations to the center. The fundraising collected at Lemurpalooza will go directly to daily care and enrichment of animals at the Lemur Center.
"Donations really, really help in terms of the lemurs' health and wellbeing," Goodwin said. "They definitely feel the effect long-term."
Part of the Adopt a Lemur campaign stems from a desire to create engagement between the Durham community and the Lemur Center’s efforts both at home and abroad. There is a $50 minimum adoption fee for those interested in sponsoring a lemur, but the $25 entry fee can contribute to the adoption. People will then receive regular updates and photographs from the center about the lemur they choose to adopt.
Goodwin, who adopted a lemur named Elvis Presley last year, said she has received handwritten note cards with updates on her lemur and that sponsors receive different merchandise for increasing levels of payment.
At next week's Lemurpalooza, there will be nine different lemurs available for adoption. Kalin noted that among the nine is Raven, the fat tailed dwarf lemur who recently starred in the IMAX movie “Island of Lemurs.”
DLC Director Anne Yoder said the inaugural Lemurpalooza was highly successful in terms of both turnout and fundraising.
“I was blown away by all of the interest in the first Lemurpalooza, both from the Duke and the greater Durham communities," Yoder said. "It’s just great that all of these people want to claim a little ownership of our unique center."
Visitors need to make a reservation ahead of time to attend Lemurpalooza and can do so by calling the Lemur Center or visiting their website for more information.
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