December 2001
Seasons Greetings and Happy New Year

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November 2001
Environmental Enrichment

A concentration on Environmental Enrichment was the main focus of this month. Environmental Enrichment is achieved by increasing the mental stimulus of a captive animal. The ultimate form of enrichment for any captive animal is to provide it with a habitat that caters to the natural behaviors of its inhabitants. For example, an enriching habitat for an arboreal (tree dwelling) monkey would be a high, naturalistic enclosure with lots of trees, vines or ropes ETC. More

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October 2001
Home Improvement

This month was geared towards maintaning and upgrading the lemur habitats. As I am sure you can tell by watching the various 'Lemur Cams', you have noticed that both the Black and White Ruffed Lemur and the Red Ruffed Lemur habitats have undergone a change. More

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September 2001
The Sanctuary Goes Prime Time!

September was an exciting month here at the Sanctuary! In addition to the arrival of a new infant Red Ruffed Lemur, some of the Sanctuary's animals were filmed for a Discovery Channel documentary on Prosimian primates. As stated above, September was an exciting and busy month for David and myself. Early in the month we met with Mr. Nate Scripture, from the Primetime Production department of the Discovery Channel. Nate mentioned to us that one of Discovery's TV shows (Nigel's Wild Wild World) was working on a documentary on Prosimian primates. Nate being familiar with the Sanctuaries lemurs, wanted to know if we can work together in a filming project for Nigel's show. Of course we were very interested in helping so we set it up. More

August 2001
Routine Management of the Wildlife

As mentioned in last month's "Sanctuary News" part of the routine management of the wildlife we house includes physical examinations. Here at the Sanctuary we try to examine each animal minimally two times a year (bi-annually).

Today's general examinations were to include the following six parameters. Blood collection, a cardio exam, a respiration exam, a muscular/skeletal exam, a dental exam and a fecal exam. In addition, we were going to catch all of the cats up on their annual vaccinations. More

July 2001
The Big Cat Fight

While walking through the property, we hear a commotion going on over by Gypsy's habitat. Rushing over to investigate, we discover that Gypsy and another female tiger (Sherikon) got into a small scuffle (cat fight). After separating to two cats immediately we started routine examinations of each cat for injuries. More

June 2001
Unfortunately not all news is good news!

The Sanctuary lost our beloved female Black and White Ruffed Lemur Vanda. Vanda was the mate of Bonsi and the mother of three-month-old twin infants. She will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege to work with her. More

May 2001
The Birth of Black and White Ruffed Lemur Babies

I would like to start off by announcing the successful birth of two healthy and vibrant Black and White Ruffed Lemur babies. The Sanctuary staff is beaming with joy here! Lemurs of all kinds are extremely endangered on their native island of Madagascar. The babies born to Vanda and Bonsi represent a significant step in the right direction towards the conservation of these remarkable creatures. The brother and sister infants are the first successful births of this species of lemur at the Sanctuary. More