Visitors to London Zoo will soon be able to get up close and personal with some of nature’s most playful primates.
In With The Lemurs is a unique walk-through experience, where zoo-goers can enter the woodland habitat of the ring-tail and black and white ruffed lemurs, with no barriers between them, allowing the public to get closer than ever before to the mischievous Madagascan primates.
The brand new home has been custom-built for the all-male group of lemurs, with sunbathing areas specially designed to follow the path of the sun, which will allow the sun-worshiping creatures to bask on hot days.
Visitors to the attraction within Regent’s Park, which will open tomorrow, can walk among the forest home of the cheeky primates and watch them leap and climb overhead.
Zoo keepers welcomed the lively lemurs into their new home yesterday, with a selection of enriching housewarming gifts including bamboo canes and snacks of sultanas and lettuce stalks, which the inquisitive primates loved prowling around their enclosure to find.
Keeper Christina Stender said: “They do all get on really well, which is what we wanted.
“We’re hoping that once it gets nice and warm they’ll want to come out and sunbathe in their yoga positions.”
The interior part of the exhibit has been designed to replicate a timber mill, to raise awareness of the dangers that industries like mining and logging pose to lemurs’ natural habitats.
Lemurs are only found on the African island of Madagascar, and are among the planet’s most endangered species.
Black and white ruffed lemurs are critically endangered, and are number 37 on the list of the hundred most extraordinary threatened species in the world.
The Zoo’s curator of mammals, Malcolm Fitzpatrick, said: “In With The Lemurs is a new immersive exhibit for our visitors, where they can get breathtakingly close, and walk through the forest environment where the lemurs live.
“The interior area has been themed to represent a sawmill, to highlight threats from industries like logging and mining in Madagascar.
“We want to inspire our visitors, and hope to get them engaged in conservation.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming people here, and hope they enjoy it as much as the lemurs are enjoying it already, they are just lovely animals.”
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