Fairbairn donation means new lemurs at Durrell
A generous donation made by Fairbairn Private Bank will allow
Durrell to start a new breeding programme for the Trust's
endangered ring-tailed lemurs.
Fairbairn Private Bank currently adopts the bachelor group of
ring-tailed lemurs who have lived at the Trust for many years. The
recent arrival of two new females, the cost of which has been
covered by Fairbairn Private Bank through the donation, has greatly
excited the three existing males - brothers Digit, Fang and
Hannibal.
The two females from Chester Zoo are five-year-old Morticia and
three-year-old Muriel. Morticia has brought with her a
four-month-old son, who has yet to be named. Having arrived at
Durrell in mid May, the lemurs have now completed their four-week
quarantine period and have recently been moved to the park's main
Lemur Wood enclosure. In this large natural wooded area, they are
in the process of being mixed with Durrell's existing three male
ring-tailed lemurs and a family of three red-fronted brown lemurs,
who are also new to the Trust.
Senior Keeper at Durrell, Tim Wright, "From the moment they were
first mixed, they have been eagerly watching each other. Life will
probably not be quite so relaxed for the three brothers from now
on, as female ring-tailed lemurs are very much the dominant gender
of the species. It is hoped that, given time, they will breed."
Durrell has been working with this endangered lemur since 1964
and has bred a total of 38 ring-tailed lemurs between 1974 and
1993. Following the great success of Durrell's breeding programme,
a non-breeding bachelor group were kept at the headquarters for
around 15 years. However, Fairbairn Private Bank's kind donation
has enabled the breeding effort to resume, in order that Durrell
can contribute to the captive population once more.
David Stearn, head of private banking at Fairbairn Private Bank,
said "We are delighted to support the breeding programme for the
ring-tailed lemurs at Durrell's headquarters. These programmes are
vital in the education required to increase the sustainability of
species in their home environment which is threatened, often by
human activity." He continued, "Durrell has kindly allowed the
staff at Fairbairn Private Bank to suggest names for the baby lemur
and we are all very eager to discover which name will be
selected."
Later this year, Durrell's group of six ring-tailed lemurs and
family of three red-fronted brown lemurs will be moving to a brand
new purpose-built lemur enclosure in the renovated Walled Garden.
The entire area is being transformed in order to showcase Durrell's
conservation work in the highly threatened dry forests of
Madagascar.
