An endangered lemur at the Calgary Zoo in Canada has finally found a mate after four years of searching. As a result, the world now welcomes the most adorable baby lemur pup.
Like humans, some animals are highly picky about whom they mate with. This leads some of them, like the lemur in this story, to struggle to find a partner and thus rarely give birth. Finally, after four years of searching, a rare lemur species has found a mate, which led to the birth of the critically-endangered lemur pup.
The celebration at the Calgary Zoo
The birth occurred at the Calgary Zoo as the lemurs finally found each after searching for the perfect mate. This marked an important milestone in the zoo’s Special Survival Plan, a program dedicated to animals with few numbers.
The plan is designed to help these types of animals breed in captivity, which is then strategically used to support genetic diversity. It just so happened that after four years, the program successfully found a mate for the endangered lemurs.
What made the lemurs so special?
The particular type of lemurs in this story is the black-and-white ruffed ones, considered critically endangered. Because of this, the pup played a vital role in the species’ survival. These lemurs are similar to pandas, who don’t just mate with any animal from the same species. For the black-and-white ruffed lemurs, they have to find a suitable mate, and this is what happened to Eny and Menabe.
Lemurs have 21 species and six subspecies, as recorded today. Although there were more in the past, some have gone extinct. A notable species of lemurs, a species that was once as big as gorillas, has also become extinct.
How the two lemurs met
The two lemurs didn’t grow up together. They came from very different locations from one another. The father, Menabe, has been in Calgary since 2017 and was 8 years old. Finding a suitable mate for a while was hard, but in 2021, he met Eny. Eny, on the other hand, came from the Czech Republic and was only flown in when the zookeepers realized that the two could be a good match.
Finally, they met each other, and as the zookeepers suspected, they were a good match for each other, leading to a baby.
How to preserve endangered species
While a lot of the heavy-duty work is often done by zoos, experts, and scientists, there are other ways that regular people can contribute to preserving endangered species. These things might not seem much at first, but when compounded and more people do, they will have a lasting effect on biodiversity and life.
Here are some things you can do to help preserve endangered species.
Habitat protection
Nature, by itself, should be protected, and it’s crucial to leave different habitats the way they are. Although it’s nearly impossible to stop development, one thing that can be done is to support the protection of specific habitats containing rare species and wildlife.
You can also contribute to the restoration efforts of specific habitats, as many programs try to restore destroyed habitats to their native glory.
Captive breeding
While it’s okay to leave some animals in the wild as they don’t have an issue reproducing, certain animals must be kept in conservations for captive breeding and reintroduction programs. These types of programs are essential, mainly when geographical difficulties affect the mating chances of certain species.
Of course, you can choose the types of facilities you support, as some zoos, aquariums, and other facilities breed animals in a protected environment only to release them back into the wild.
Education
Awareness is often the key to innovation, where most solutions lie. By educating the public about these rare species, you might gain more than support and maybe inspire others to become future advocates or volunteers. Educational campaigns can also change the public perception of certain rare species and help open their eyes to how important it is to protect them.
Lastly
The story of the black-and-white ruffed lemurs shows just how important it is to support the protection of endangered species. While it took four years to find a suitable mate, other species aren’t always that lucky, and despite efforts, some of them still become extinct.
As the world changes and nature gets affected, it’s essential to look for solutions that could ultimately look for answers to save these endangered species, not just to look into the past but also to bring nature with us into the future.
