Founded 1996 Type 501(c)(3) Product Lemur conservation | Founder Penelope Bodry-Sanders Location Myakka City, Florida | |
Focus Preserve and conserve the primates of Madagascar | ||
The Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF) is a small American non-profit organization that works closely with the Duke Lemur Center, LCF Scientific Advisory Council (including Dr. Ian Tattersall), the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Prosimian Taxon Advisory Group (TAG), and the Species Survival Plan (SSP) coordinators. Its lemur reserve in Myakka City, Florida, houses ring-tailed lemurs, red-fronted brown lemurs, white-headed lemurs, eastern lesser bamboo lemurs, mongoose lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, common brown lemurs and Sanford's lemurs. Its goals include conservation (including captive breeding and reintroduction), research, and education.
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Mission
"The Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF) is a small non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the primates of Madagascar through captive breeding, scientific research, education, and reintroduction."
Myakka City Lemur Reserve
The 90-acre (360,000 m2) Myakka City Lemur Reserve, which opened in 1999, is an AZA accredited facility that is located in Manatee County, Florida. There are two forested 13-acre (53,000 m2)+ free-range enclosures and the remaining acres currently serve as a buffer zone for the reserve. Two buildings act as indoor/outdoor enclosures: the Reed and Barbara Toomey Lemur Pavilion and the Marilyn K. North Lemur Lodge. The Mianatra Center for Lemur Studies and the Anne & Walter Bladstrom Library are also located at this facility and serve as an on-site educational resource.
Tampolo Forest Reserve
The Lemur Conservation Foundation is partnered with the Tampolo Forest Station, a small reserve in the 1,700-acre (6.9 km2) forest of Tampolo in Madagascar.
Training and research opportunities
The facility is open to academic professionals and college-level students for behavioral and other non-surgical research. There are two six-month internships offered in animal husbandry and field methods.
Research on lemur cognition and has been performed at the Myakka City Lemur Reserve and published in peer-reviewed academic journals. The studies showed that lemurs can understand basic arithmetic operations and will preferentially select tools based on their functional qualities (e.g., tool orientation, ease of use) instead of tools with nonfunctional features (e.g., color, texture), despite not being known to use tools in the wild.
Publications
The Lemur Conservation Foundation releases annual reports and a semiannual newsletter, called Lemur Latitudes.