World Lemur Day

World Lemur Day: Lemur Scavenger Hunt Age: Families with children ages 8 years and older Gather your Gear Optional items: • Computer with internet access • Paper and crayons, markers, or colored pencils • Scale • Measuring tape Get Ready You can help your child make connections by thinking about concepts before the activity. • There are over 100 species of lemurs, all living on the island of Madagascar. While they share many similarities, each species has unique traits, behaviors, and ecological roles. • Zoo Atlanta is home to three different species: Black-and-white-ruffed lemur Crowned lemur Ring-tailed lemur • Click on the lemur species above to learn more about each individual species. This will help you with the scavenger hunt. World Lemur Day: Lemur Scavenger Hunt Scavenger Hunt Discover all about lemurs by completing the following scavenger hunt. To complete the scavenger hunt, you may need to use books, the internet, go outside, or search your house. Many answer items can even be found at Zoo Atlanta (however, visiting is not required to complete the list). Optional: For each list item, find, draw, or take a picture of the animal/object that meets the description. After you have found the answer to all 10 items, use your pictures to create a collage. 1. Lemurs are prosimians, a type of primate. Find two other species of primates. 2. Most lemurs are arboreal. This means they spend most of their time living in trees. Find another animal species that is arboreal. 3. Different lemur species have different diets. Find food items, either in your house or in nature, that lemurs with the following diets would eat: a. Frugivores (animals that eat mostly fruit, like the crowned lemur) b. Herbivore (animals that eat mostly plants, like the ring-tailed lemur and ruffed lemur) c. Insectivore (animals that eat mostly insects, like the aye-aye) 4. Different lemur species vary in size. Find objects in your home or in nature that weigh the same as the smallest and the biggest species of lemur: a. The smallest lemur, Madame Berthe’s lemur, weighs 30 grams (1 oz) b. The largest lemurs, the ruffed lemurs, weigh up to 5 kilograms (11 lbs) 5. Many lemurs are great leapers. Some species can jump between 25 and 33 feet in a single leap. Using a measuring tape, find two items that are 25-33 feet apart. a. Bonus: Test how many jumps it takes for you to reach 33 feet. 6. Black-and-white ruffed lemurs are the world’s largest pollinator. They are the main pollinator of Madagascar’s travelers palm tree. Find another animal species that is a pollinator. a. Bonus: Find a food item that benefits from pollinators. 7. Ring-tailed lemurs are the best-known species of lemur, in part thanks to their distinctive tails. They have 26 rings on their tails, alternating in black and white. Find another animal that has rings on its tail. 8. Crowned lemurs are one of the few lemur species that are sexually dimorphic. This means males and females look physically different. Find another animal species in which males and females look noticeably different. 9. Many lemur species are endangered in large part due to habitat loss. By participating in Meatless Mondays, people can help reduce slash-and-burn agriculture that creates more space for cattle farms. Search your kitchen and create a meal that doesn’t use any meat. 10. Halloween themed bonus: Lemurs are known as the “_______________ of Madagascar” because of their wide-eyed stare, spooky vocalizations, and nocturnal activity. Fill in the blank by researching what lemur means in Latin. Draw a picture of the Halloween related entity. World Lemur Day: Lemur Scavenger Hunt *credit: Morgan W./ Zoo Atlanta Recap Have a conversation about what you saw/did and questions your child may have. • Name something new you learned about lemurs. • How can you help lemurs in the wild? Relate Create connections to the idea through activities. Madagascar, the only place in the world where lemurs are found, is home to 110 species of lemurs and is a global hotspot of biodiversity. Only 10 percent of Madagascar’s land area remains as suitable primate habitat. Lemurs are threatened by habitat loss and deforestation, and they could be extinct in 20 years without targeted conservation efforts. You can help: • Meatless Mondays. Choose at least one day a week to not eat any meat. This will decrease the need for slash-and-burn agriculture for cattle farms. • Buy Madagascar vanilla and chocolate. Vanilla and cocoa are shade grown crops and decrease the need for slash-and-burn agriculture. • Shop sustainable. Buy responsibly sourced wood and paper products. Look for these logos: It takes a team…. join ours Help us save species by joining the “Zoo Conservation Corps” and raise awareness about wild animals, their habitats and why conserving both is so important. If your family members are on World Lemur Day: Lemur Scavenger Hunt social media, share your collage or your new knowledge about lemurs. Use #OnlyZooATL and #WorldLemurDay so that we can see all your great work! Want to know more? • For more on lemur conservation, go to: https://www.madagascarfaunaflora.org/ or https://www.lemurreserve.org/ako-project/ • Visit Zoo Atlanta to see and learn more about black-and-white-ruffed, ring-tailed, and crowned lemurs .

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