Chester Zoo recently welcomed a pair of rare Coquerel’s sifaka lemurs, known for their unique ‘sideways gallop’ dance, as part of a European endangered species breeding program.
These critically endangered lemurs, Beatrice and Elliot, traveled over 4,000 miles from the Duke Lemur Centre in North Carolina, marking the first of their kind in Europe.
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A video from the zoo captures the lemurs’ captivating dance-like moves. Primate Keeper Holly Webb explains that when on the ground, these lemurs move with a fascinating sideways gallop while holding up their arms for balance, creating the appearance of an elegant dance.
They showcase impressive acrobatics in the trees, leaping up to 30 feet with their powerful legs.
To accommodate the lemurs’ special nutritional needs, the zoo’s keepers, veterinarians, and logistics teams work together to create a tailored diet plan.
These vegetarians will feast on various plant species, including unique and delicious trees explicitly grown at the zoo.


Chester Zoo staff are excited to care for this enthralling species and hope visitors will learn about these charismatic animals’ challenges in the wild.
Coquerel’s sifaka lemurs, native to Madagascar, have seen an 80% decline in their population over the past 30 years due to massive deforestation.
Mike Jordan, Animal & Plant Director at Chester Zoo, emphasizes the importance of establishing a safety-net population in Europe’s top zoos to help prevent extinction and preserve options for future conservation.


He notes that deforestation in Madagascar has restricted lemurs to a few small fragments of forest in the northwest, highlighting the crucial role of progressive conservation zoos in protecting this iconic species from being lost forever.






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