Nashville Zoo Celebrates Birth of Critically Endangered Red Ruffed Lemur

Nashville Zoo is excited to announce the birth of a female red ruffed lemur, Penelope born on Thursday, April 20, weighing in at 114 grams (comparable to a medium-sized apple). She was born to first-time mom and dad Phoebe and Emilio. The Zoo’s primate team reports that mom and baby are doing well and will continue to live behind the scenes until Penelope is large enough to move outside.

Penelope is the Zoo’s first successful red ruffed lemur birth since 2017 marking a new milestone in the conservation and care of this critically endangered species. Nashville Zoo participates in the Red Ruffed Lemur Species Survival Plan® which helps to ensure genetically diverse populations amongst this species in human care. Including the new baby, the Zoo now has four red ruffed lemurs in their care.

The Zoo’s primate care team worked closely with the veterinary team to follow Phoebe’s pregnancy from conception to birth.

“We were able to track this pregnancy by training Phoebe to voluntary participate in ultrasounds which provided our team with essential information on the health of the baby and mom,” said Nashville Zoo’s primate keeper Tatum Davis. “As a first-time mom, Phoebe is learning and has proven to take excellent care of her baby which is the ideal situation in the care of this species.”

Red ruffed lemurs (Varecia rubra) are only native to tropical lowland forests of Madagascar. They have a rusty red coat with black and white accents. Their diet consists mainly of fruit and sometime leaves, seeds and nectars. In the wild, red ruffed lemurs spend most of their time in the treetops socializing with other red ruffed lemurs and can produce up to 12 different communication calls. They are considered critically endangered due to habitat loss. In addition to breeding efforts, Nashville Zoo donates to Madagascar’s SAVA Conservation Project, an organization working to preserve Madagascar’s biodiversity through educating local communities. To learn more about Nashville Zoo’s conservation efforts, visit www.nashvillezoo.org.