Lemur Wood
Lemur Wood was Blackpool Zoo's very first walk-through enclosure and is just as popular now as the day the gates first opened in 1999. Three species of lemurs live in this natural, wooded enclosure, and they're all happy to meet visitors face to face.
The largest group is the ring-tailed lemurs, brought to the public's attention through the "Madagascar" film which brought world wide acknowledgement of their plight in the wild due to deforestation and loss of habitat. Ring-tails are friendly animals and, being a single sex group, ours cohabit happily with little aggravation or fighting.
Visitors are often entertained by the antics of these small primates, especially when they sit in the sun with arms outstretched to warm themselves like little statues. They look as though they're practising yoga!
In the wild, ring-tailed lemurs live in groups of 6 - 30 members known as a troop, the average being 13 - 15. All species of lemur originate from the island of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa.
Also in the group are small numbers of red-ruffed and red-fronted lemurs, although these tend to be more shy with humans.
