Lemur lake

As mentioned before, the animals at Durrell form a safety net population; should their genetic information ever be called upon, as well as being ambassadors for their species. An area of the world that is developing extremely fast and pushing several species to the brink of extinction is the poorest island in the world – Madagascar. This is an island which Gerald Durrell felt extremely passionate about. It is in such major trouble due to agricultural practices being forced upon the Malagasy people to provide more of the things that the richer parts of the world desperately crave such as cinnamon, cocoa and coffee. Lemurs are endemic to Madagascar, as are all terrestrial mammals found there and Durrell boasts six different species in its collection including the aye-aye. Lemurs form part of the suborder Strepsirhini (prosimians) within the order Primates and have evolved into an extremely diverse collection of species, each of which has very specific habitats and niches.

Lemur enclosures are spread throughout the park in three separate areas (four including the aye-ayes). All of the enclosure areas vary in size and contents, the design of each, carefully managed to replicate as best as possible the species’ wild habitat. The most impressive of all lemur areas in the park is “Lemur Lake”. Surrounding the lake are three groups of lemurs (one mixed) each with an exclusive portion of the lake side. Although a discreet electric fence prevents the animals from entering the water, the scene is reminiscent of one that might be found in a documentary in which lemurs are shown exploring their wild surroundings and generally living unrestricted lives.

The mixed group, whose territory spans one whole side of the lake, consists of two Black-and-White ruffed lemurs, one Red-fronted Brown lemur and seven Ring-tailed lemurs. The group has access to several trees, the tallest around 15-20m in height, of which, some are used for feeding via an attached rope-and-pulley system; delivering fruit high into the tree top.

It’s fantastic to see the lemurs make full use of the natural resources that are available to them, especially in this recent heat-wave. During my day off today I spent some time at the park watching the way the different animals behave over long periods of time, as well as how the public feel about the various exhibits and animals they see. Whilst watching the lemurs today, at some points it appeared to fellow observers that what they were seeing was an outdoor area which had been abandoned by its usual inhabitants. Only when the ruffle of leaves was seen and heard was the audience engaged. Simultaneously the black and white extremities that hung from the Ring-tailed lemurs suddenly became clear and the finger pointing began, with keen-eyed parents pointing out to their children the locations of the arboreal acrobats.

Environmental enrichment (EE) can be any process or item that an animal is exposed to, with the aim of encouraging natural behaviours whilst preventing boredom and stress. According to the zoo keepers I have been working with, visitors commonly ask what sort of EE programme the lemurs in this area of the park are in receipt of. The answer is that there is no structured EE plan other than a diet that varies on a daily basis. The reason for this is that the lemurs are kept in a fairly wild environment, regularly encountering plenty of wild animals such as moorhens, seagulls, rabbits and countless invertebrate species; not to mention the other species of lemur that share the enclosure. With all this activity going on it would be more difficult to switch off than it would be to remain active and engaged in these busy surroundings!

British wildlife a few inches away from the lens is no problem for my Samsung PL80. The sort of photography needed to capture certain environments such as this exhibit, on the other hand, is embarrassingly beyond the capabilities of my compact camera. The photos I’ve taken don’t do justice to how imaginative and complex the lemurs’ outdoor area is, however, they do show the scale of the area and how it engages the visitors, so much to the point that, in my opinion, they almost forget they are in a zoo. I believe that the large (in zoo terms) distance between animals and visitors becomes less of an issue when animals are seen behaving so naturally in their naturalistic habitat. The fact that there is no visual barrier, e.g. glass; mesh; netting, whatsoever between “us and them” must surely assist in reducing visitor frustration when trying to capture that perfect action-shot.

 I hope this exhibit is a shining example to other zoos; that both maximum animal welfare and visitor satisfaction can be achieved when an enclosure is really well thought through and animal welfare is at the top of the agenda. Too often zoos appear to be “animal collections”; cramming in as many species of mega-fauna as possible to better appeal to the public, rather than having a strong mission statement, which the zoo itself reflects. I have realised that an investment should really be made by zoos to provide the best possible enclosures for a select few species rather than mediocre facilities for several. We already know that better captive conditions, backed up by strong research, correlate with reproductive success and low aggression levels (to name just two), so why not listen to what the results are telling us? This is why I believe that Durrell is setting the benchmark for so many zoo practices; it looks at what the animals need and everything else comes second (…third, fourth, fifth etc).