Introducing Voltaire! A few weeks ago we posted on social media how our collared lemur (Eulemur collaris) infant was starting to look more and more like his dad, Olivier. Were you able to guess his sex then?
As this little bundle of energy recently started spending more time off of mom, the LCF team was able to confirm our suspicions. Once we confirmed this little one was indeed a boy, our staff went to work on picking a name. LCF follows theme names for all of our lemur species, and the theme for collared lemurs is French. So without further ado- introducing Voltaire!
Born on April 2, Voltaire is almost five months old. Although he spends most of his time off of mom Isabelle, he still retreats to her when startled or scared. He is sometimes even found riding on her- no easy feat when he is almost half her size!
In November 2000, LCF received its first Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) breeding recommendation for mongoose lemurs, officially starting our managed breeding program with the arrival of two mongoose lemurs, and welcoming the reserve’s first offspring in April 2002.
Since then, more than 80 infants of six different species have been born on the reserve. LCF plays a critical role in maintaining a genetic safety net for lemurs that are otherwise threatened with extinction in the wild.