Lemur pups Nova and Evie born at Scottish safari park

A Scottish safari park has announced the birth of two female lemur pups native to Madagascar.

Nova and Evie, who are living at Blair Drummond safari and adventure park, near Stirling, were born on 14 April, and the park has now publicly announced their birth.

The six-week-old black-and-white ruffed lemurs are among as few as 1,000 remaining in the wild, with the species considered critically endangered.

They are known to have the second-loudest primate call in the animal kingdom, with howler monkeys the only louder species.

Their loud cry makes them more susceptible to capture for the illegal pet trade, and additional threats include hunting by locals and habitat destruction due to deforestation, logging and mining.

Blair Drummond participates in the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme in order to build the population of animals such as the lemurs.

The sisters are the third litter to be born at the park, with several of their siblings now in zoological establishments across the UK.

The park also collaborates with the conservation project Feedback Madagascar, which focuses on educating communities and protecting lemurs in their natural habitat.

The pups will eventually join the other lemurs at the park’s Lemur Land. Meanwhile, visitors can catch a glimpse of them in their indoor enclosure with their mother, Cali.

The twin sisters will later be rehomed as part of the breeding programme.

The zookeeper Lesley Rodger said: “We are overjoyed to welcome these two new arrivals to our lemur conspiracy. They are gaining confidence in their surroundings daily and are already testing their limb strength by hanging from branches in their aviary.

“Both pups are female, and based on our past experience, girls do tend to be more of a handful.

“We have named them Nova, meaning ‘new’, and Evie, meaning ‘life’.”