Zoboomafoo lives on: Descendants of famous lemur from PBS show born in North Carolina
Jovian, the energetic and cartoon-like lemur who starred on the PBS show “Zoboomafoo,” died almost six years ago.
But his family keeps growing.
Zoboomafoo’s nephew and grandson were born a day apart at the Duke Lemur Center in January, the animal sanctuary announced Wednesday.
“The arrivals of these two infants remind us, even in difficult times, of the power that lemurs have to make us smile,” Greg Dye, executive director of the Duke Lemur Center, said in a news release. “New births bring joy and instill hope; and we’ll continue to do everything we can to protect lemurs from extinction even in such uncertain times.”
Terence, the “lively, vocal and strong” nephew of Jovian, was born Jan. 21.
His mother Rupillia — also known as “Rupi” — is Jovian’s little sister, born five years after the late television star in 1999, according to the Lemur Center.
Didius, Jovian’s grandson, was born on Jan. 22 to Gisela, Jovian’s daughter, and her mate Rupert, the center said.
The two babies are Coquerel’s sifakas, a species of lemur distinguished by how they sit, stand and move around, according to the lemur center.
“These animals maintain a distinctly vertical posture and leap through the trees using just the strength of their back legs,” the center’s website states. “Their spectacular method of locomotion is known as vertical clinging and leaping and their long, powerful legs can easily propel them distances of over 20 feet from tree to tree.”
Sifakas are also “female-dominant,” meaning mothers control all access to their babies during the early stages of their lives.
Gisela was “initially annoyed” by her mate Rupert and didn’t allow him to groom newborn Didius’s fur until Feb. 1 — and she still picked on him during the “supervised visitation,” according to the lemur center.
Because infant survival rates are higher when mother lemurs and their babies are kept separate from the rest of the family, all newborns at the Duke Lemur Center are kept alone with their mothers for the first week.
Terence and Rupi were no exception, the center said.
The newborn is Rupi’s second child with her mate Gordian after big sister Magdalena was born in 2017. Her first meeting with baby brother Terence reportedly started out well enough.
“Rupi allowed her daughter to groom and touch the infant, but when Magdalena got too carried away — boisterous grooming that began to border on wrestling — momma put her daughter in her place, settled onto a shelf, and quietly nursed the baby,” the center said.
Jovian, the patriarch of the family, died in 2014 at the age of 20, the Raleigh News & Observer reported.
But his species remains endangered.
Because of deforestation in their native Madagascar, the lemur center said some groups have petitioned to move sifakas to “critically endangered” instead.
When Jovian was born at the center in 1994, sifakas were already considered vulnerable.
By the time brothers Martin and Chris Kratt chose him to star as Zoboomafoo in 1997, sifakas had recently been moved to the endangered species list — meaning the species experienced a population decline of more than 50 percent in the last three generations, according to International Union for Conservation of Nature.
But the lemur center’s conservation efforts are paying off.
By the time Jovian died, the News & Observer reported he was the father of seven surviving children and four grandchildren with two more on the way — not including Terence and Didius.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Zoboomafoo lives on: Descendants of famous lemur from PBS show born in North Carolina."
