Twin Lemurs Celebrate 20th Birthday At Drusillas Park

Wednesday, 5 May 2021 06:00

By Jade McLean

Ring-tailed lemurs, William and Scar, celebrated their 20th birthday this bank-holiday weekend with "cake" and balloons.

The birthday milestone saw the zookeepers preparing special treats, donning party hats and putting up decorations.

Zoo Keeper, Julie Wilkinson, said:

"Our cheeky twins are 20 years old! They are so lively and spritely that it's hard to believe they are actually old boys now!

Scar and William are very dear to us and we were really happy to be able to treat them to a special day."

Keepers Julie Wilkinson and Jacinta Dawe made the lemurs a birthday "cake", which consisted of a mix of leafy pellets and veggies and with a special hand-carved 20 decoration, made with the lemur's favourite veg, sweet potato.

Zoo keeper, Jacinta Dawe, said:

"The lemurs loved their cake! It was great fun to make it for them and it was all we could do to hold onto it long enough to take a photo!

Scar and William were wasting no time getting stuck into their birthday treat.

"As we are a fruit-free zoo, veggies are the perfect treat for our animals.

All fruit items have been removed from our plant-eater's diets completely and replaced by vegetable alternatives.

"The reason for this is that the fruit cultivated for our own consumption is much sweeter, higher in calories and lower in fibre than that which the animals would naturally eat in the wild.

This is not only bad for their waistlines; it is also bad for their teeth.

We might love a sweet, sugary birthday treat, but this would just be no good for the health of our animals."

She added:

"We work hard in the zoo to deliver food and other items of interest to the animals in ways that will keep them mentally stimulated.

Lemurs are naturally very energetic and curious animals so they were straight over to investigate the birthday cake.

I got mobbed a bit actually! They all jumped up as soon as they saw food coming!"