In honor of Duke’s Centennial, The Chronicle is highlighting pivotal figures and events throughout the University’s history. Here, we take a look at the founding of the Duke Lemur Center:
The Duke Lemur Center is no secret on campus — in 2020, one in 12 undergraduate admissions applications made mention of the DLC.
Yet, few people know the story of its founding and how it grew from a small behavioral research station into the international hub for lemur research it is today.
The DLC finds its roots in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, through which the two co-founders, Professor Emeritus of Biology Peter Klopfer and John Buettner-Janusch, met.
Klopfer — who arrived at Duke in 1958 — conducted behavioral research in zoology. Taking part in the Civil Rights Movement, he was arrested in 1964 for protesting a segregated restaurant in Chapel Hill, which resulted in mounting legal fees.
“My friends and colleagues set up a defense fund, and they contacted my former teachers and friends at Yale for contributions,” Klopfer, who obtained his doctorate from Yale University, said in a 2020 interview with the DLC.
After an unconventional ruling left his case undecided — but capable of being reinstated — Klopfer made an appeal to the North Carolina Supreme Court, citing his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. While the court denied his request, the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately took on Klopfer’s case and ruled unanimously in his favor.
One contributor to the legal defense fund was Buettner-Janusch, then a Yale professor studying lemur genetics. Although Buettner-Janusch did not know Klopfer at the time, he shared a passion for civil rights and — unbeknown to Klopfer — was being considered for an appointment at Duke.
“When he came down here to give a lecture … I went to the lecture and introduced myself to him to say ‘thank you’ personally,” Klopfer said.
After meeting, Buettner-Janusch expressed interest in Klopfer’s work. The two visited the Duke Zoology Behavior Station together, where Klopfer studied various animals, from deer to turkeys. Buettner-Janusch noted that he was “very impressed” by the 40-acre enclosed research facility and admitted that he was seeking an appointment where he would have space to keep his collection of 80 lemurs.
Shortly thereafter, Buettner-Janusch proposed founding a joint facility with Klopfer.
“Would I consider letting him bring the lemurs out to the behavior station if he in turn allowed me to use the lemurs for my behavioral work?” Klopfer recounted.
The two agreed that if Buettner-Janusch accepted a position at Duke, they would “form a partnership.” After obtaining funding from the National Institutes of Health and a $406,000 National Science Foundation research grant in 1966, along with additional land from the University, the DLC — then called the Duke University Primate Center — was born.
The Duke University Primate Center takes off
The center’s inaugural year saw the first lemur birth and plans to build a new Animal Behavior Station in 1967. By 1970, Klopfer had published the first research paper that used DUPC-collected data. One year later, the first doctoral dissertation using DUPC research was published.
Buettner-Janusch resigned as director of the center in 1972, and following the years saw several changes in leadership. Jan Bergeron stepped in as DUPC interim director, until in 1977, Elwyn Simons, then-James B. Duke professor of biological anthropology and anatomy, assumed the role. A June 13, 1977, article in The Durham Sun that year described Simons as “the world’s top authority on the history of primates.”
In 1983, the DUPC made national headlines following the birth of a brown lemur named Chiclette. Chiclette was the smallest brown lemur in captivity, with an article in The Virginian-Pilot describing her as “one-quarter the weight of a normal lemur infant.”
“She was so tiny at first we were afraid she wouldn’t make it,” Simons said in a 1983 interview with CNN. “… This type of lemur, the collared lemur, is only in captivity here at Duke, and it is very rare in the wild.”
In 1985, Chiclette gave birth to her son, E.T., a nod to comparisons made between the film character and the infant Chiclette. A report from the Duke News Service explained that both lemurs were “products” of a “long-range conservation program.”
In an interview with the DNS, Simons described the primate center as the “second line of defense against extinction in the wild.”
In 1989, a University press release described plans to establish a center in Ivoloina, Madagascar, as part of larger DUPC conservation efforts. Five years later, the first golden-crowned sifaka to be conceived and birthed in captivity, named “Gaius Julius,” was born at the center.
The DUPC welcomed famous primatologist Jane Goodall in 1996 to speak at its 30th anniversary celebration. She and actress June Lockhart each gave speeches as part of the festivities.
The center faces challenges
In its first decade, the DUPC also faced its share of challenges.
The University threatened to close the center in 1975 amid budget tightening, as DUPC operating expenses cost around $100,000 per year. According to the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald, the closure would have forced the “nearly 200 lemurs” to move to other research facilities or “major zoos.”
Students expressed dissatisfaction with the decision. A March 1 report in the Winston-Salem Journal described President Terry Sanford meeting with student protesters and promising “careful consideration” of their demands. In addition to protesting the proposed closure of the DUPC, they also presented a petition with roughly 5,000 signatures calling for increased student and faculty input on a proposal to close the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
The center was saved later that year by a $300,000 donation from the May Charitable Trust of Pittsburgh. According to one Chapel Hill newspaper, the May Trust provided the grant “on condition the University seek long-term sources of support to keep the facility open.”
Fifteen years later in the fall of 1990, the DUPC made headlines again after a U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinary inspector cited the center for nine violations ranging from “unsanitary and unsafe cages” to “inadequate staffing levels,” according to the Durham Morning Herald.
“Just because at present time they have deficiencies doesn’t mean that the facility is not trying to comply with the standards,” USDA Official Rich Overton told the Associated Press at the time. “… The purpose of the inspection process is to identify problem areas and get them resolved.”
Simons defended the center, noting that lemurs “sometimes roll about in their urine and feces.” He maintained that removing those familiar smells would traumatize the animals, according to the AP.
Shortly thereafter, Simons was relieved of his duties as DUPC director and transitioned to work as the center’s scientific director. Yet, John Burness, then-senior vice president of public affairs, maintained there was not a “direct relationship” between the USDA inspection and Simons’ removal. Rather, the health and safety violations were only one factor in a holistic administrative review of Simons.
A May 1991 article by The Chronicle reported that Kenneth Glander, then-associate professor of biological anthropology and anatomy, had assumed the position of director and would “tackle problems of meeting federal regulations” in the role.
In spite of efforts to meet USDA standards, the DUPC again appeared in the news in 1996 after three primates died from cold weather within 48 hours. Another 27 animals faced injuries of varying degrees that season, ranging from heating lamp burns to frostbite. The investigation that followed charged the center with seven federal Animal Welfare Act violations and a $2,200 fine.
Following the deaths of the two lemurs and one slender loris, community members and animal rights advocates expressed mixed reactions. Some Durham community members supported the DUPC, while other observers called for the center to be shut down.
“Any death is sad and unfortunate, and any that can be prevented should be,” wrote Ellen Kerley, Durham resident and DUPC volunteer, in an email to The Durham Herald-Sun. “But these deaths were not by any neglect or lack of care.”
Mary Beth Sweetland, director of research investigation and rescues at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), claimed that the deaths were a sign of the DUPC’s underpreparedness.
“All this suffering and death points up that Duke shouldn’t have [the lemurs],” she told The Herald-Sun. “I would encourage them to give up on the project and get these animals to a sanctuary … or, if they can be, return them to the wild.”
In July 1996, Glander announced the launch of a “winterization” project at the center to better protect the animals from “the most bitter winter weather.” The plan included “new weatherproofed structures” to surround the enclosures and “new heated shelter boxes.” At the time, the DUPC housed over 470 animals from 22 different species.
Prosimians in the present
In 1997, “Zoboomafoo” co-hosts Martin Kratt, Trinity ’89, and Chris Kratt auditioned several family groups at the center to star on the popular children’s show. Jovian — a Coquerel’s sifaka at the DUPC — caught the attention of the Kratts, and footage of the lemur appeared in many episodes of the show, spanning from 1999 to 2001.
After a reevaluation of the center’s mission, the DUPC changed its name to the Duke Lemur Center in 2006. The center celebrated 50 years of research in 2016, and it has now cared for about 4,000 animals.
Today, the DLC is led by Executive Director Greg Dye, and is home to around 13 species and more than 200 animals. Its most recent addition, a member of Zoboomafoo's family, was born Oct. 16. The center welcomes over 35,000 visitors each year, and DLC volunteers logged almost 11,000 service hours in 2023.
In 2021, DLC became the fifth-ever facility to earn a perfect score in an inspection by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which evaluates standards of animal welfare, health and nutrition.
Today, the DLC conducts non-invasive prosimian research and conservation. The lemur hub — among few of its kind — serves as a unique extension of the Duke community that attracts visitors from around the world.
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Ryan Kilgallen is a Trinity sophomore and an associate news editor for the news department.