Lemurs, tigers and giraffes: A guide to animal experiences in or near the Triangle
Did you know that the star lemur from the educational children’s show “Zoboomafoo” was born and raised in North Carolina?
The lemur, a Coquerel’s sifaka whose real-life name was Jovian, was born at the Duke Lemur Center in Durham and lived there until his death at the age of 20 in 2014.
While Jovian has passed away, the Duke Lemur Center remains home to many of his offspring, as well as several other lemurs not related to Jovian — and the center offers various tours for the public to catch a glimpse of them.
In addition to the Duke Lemur Center, there are several other options throughout central North Carolina for connecting with interesting animals, including at the N.C. Zoo in Asheboro and Carolina Tiger Rescue in Pittsboro.
Here’s some more information about these fun and educational animal experiences near the Triangle.
Duke Lemur Center (Durham)
General overview of the Duke Lemur Center
Founded in 1966, the Duke Lemur Center offers the most diverse population of lemurs on Earth, outside of the animals’ native Madagascar, with more than 200 lemurs and bushbabies across 13 species being housed at the center in Durham.
▪ The center is internationally recognized for its non-invasive and non-harmful research on lemurs, and also has a successful conservation breeding program that “maintains the world’s largest ‘genetic safety net’” for the endangered primates. The center is also recognized as a “global authority on lemur veterinary medicine.”
▪ The center’s mission is to advance science, scholarship and biological conservation of lemurs through its interdisciplinary non-invasive research, community-based conservation and public outreach and education.
Tours of the Duke Lemur Center
The center offers several options for tours of the center, as well as educational programs, including summer camps and virtual programming.
▪ You must make a pre-paid tour reservation to visit any part of the Duke Lemur Center, including the gift shop. The center cannot accept walk-in visitors in any capacity due to the endangered nature of the lemurs and the center’s desire to keep them safe and healthy. If you’d like to make a reservation to shop in the gift shop separately from a scheduled tour, contact the center at primate@duke.edu.
▪ Tours are seasonally dependent and options are limited during the winter months due to the lemurs not naturally being adapted to cold weather climates.
▪ Tour options include a general tour that offers an overview of the center and a chance to see 17 of the lemurs, and a “Walking with Lemurs Premium Tour” that allows guests to see the lemurs in their naturally forested habitats. Participants must be at least 10 years old for the Walking with Lemurs tour.
▪ Tours are held rain or shine, with the exception of when there are threats of lightning in the forecast. The center encourages guests to dress accordingly.
Contact information & location for the Duke Lemur Center
▪ The Duke Lemur Center is located at 3705 Erwin Rd. in Durham.
▪ To learn more about the Duke Lemur Center and the programming it offers, visit lemur.duke.edu.
▪ You can also contact the center by calling 919-401-7240 or by emailing primate@duke.edu.
North Carolina Zoo (Asheboro)
General overview of the N.C. Zoo
The North Carolina Zoo, an agency of the state’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, sits on 2,600 wooded acres in Asheboro, about 75 miles west of Raleigh.
▪ The zoo opened in 1974 after an idea initiated by the Raleigh Jaycees in 1967 led to years of planning and fundraising.
▪ With 500 of its total acreage developed, the N.C. Zoo is the world’s largest natural habitat zoo, and one of just two state-supported zoos in the country.
▪ The zoo’s mission is to protect wildlife and wild places and inspire people to join them in conserving the natural world. For more than two decades, the zoo has been involved with conserving animals in the wild, including vultures and gorillas in Africa and endangered plants and amphibians right here in North Carolina.
▪ The zoo provides visitors with “encounters with wild animals living in natural settings,” plus a variety of nature-based, educational programs and camps.
▪ More than 1,800 animals across four park habitats — North America, Africa, a global desert and an apiary — currently call the N.C. Zoo home. Animals at the N.C. Zoo include polar bears, black bears, red wolves, baboons, zebra, ostriches, giraffes, lions, elephants, gazelles and plenty more.
The zoo also offers a variety of plant life for viewing throughout the facility.
Visiting the N.C. Zoo
The N.C. Zoo is open daily for visits and other programming, except on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
▪ The zoo is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from April through October. From November through March, the zoo is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
▪ Visiting the zoo requires tickets. Tickets are general admission and cost $15 for adults (ages 13-61), $13 for seniors (age 62 or older) and $11 for children (ages 2-12). Children under the age of 2 can visit for free.
You can purchase tickets in advance at tickets.nczoo.org, or buy them at the gate on the day you visit.
▪ The zoo offers several in-house dining options, including restaurants and concession stands, and asks that visitors not bring outside food or drink into the park. Guests are allowed to bring in sealed bottled non-alcoholic beverages (one per guest), small snacks for children, baby food and/or formula, a personal refillable water bottle, empty pre-purchased N.C. Zoo souvenir cups and food for medical or special dietary purposes..
Guests can, however, enjoy their own food, such as packed lunches, outside of the park at one of the zoo’s picnic areas or in a parking lot. If you choose to leave the zoo to picnic during your visit, make sure to get your hand stamped for re-entry by a member of the zoo’s admissions team.
▪ When you plan your visit to the zoo, keep in mind that you’ll be walking a lot. The facility has more than five miles of walking trails, so you’ll want to wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a water bottle. The zoo does offer stroller and wheelchair rentals on a first-come, first-served basis.
Find out more about visiting the zoo at nczoo.org/visit. The zoo also offers a helpful frequently asked questions page with answers to common questions you might have about your visit at nczoo.org/visit/faqs.
Contact information & location for the N.C. Zoo
▪ The N.C. Zoo is located at 4401 Zoo Parkway in Asheboro.
▪ You can learn more about the N.C. Zoo by visiting nczoo.org or calling 800-488-444.
Carolina Tiger Rescue (Pittsboro)
General overview of Carolina Tiger Rescue
Carolina Tiger Rescue, located about 30 miles from Raleigh in Pittsboro, is a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary with the mission of saving and protecting wild cats in captivity and in the wild.
▪ The organization’s beginnings date back to the 1970s, but it adopted its current name, with a focus specifically on rescue and conservation efforts, in 2009.
▪ The organization aims to be a refuge, providing animals a safe, comfortable home for the remainder of their lives after they arrive at the rescue.
▪ Carolina Tiger Rescue currently houses approximately 49 animals across 10 species, including tigers, lions, leopards, cougars, ocelots, bobcats and more.
▪ As a wildlife sanctuary, Carolina Tiger Rescue meets various federal guidelines outlined by the Captive Wildlife Safety Act. These guidelines include that the organization is a nonprofit, it does not engage in commercial trading or breeding of big cats and it does not allow direct contact between big cats and the public at the facility.
▪ During their visits, visitors to Carolina Tiger Rescue are always escorted by trained staff or volunteers.
Visiting Carolina Tiger Rescue
Carolina Tiger Rescue offers guided public tours on weekends, as well as field trips, other educational opportunities and private tours during the week, throughout the year.
▪ Tours are all pre-arranged and require tickets. Walk-in visitors will not be accommodated. You can purchase tickets for tours online at etix.com/ticket/v/8081/carolina-tiger-rescue.
▪ Tour options include a daytime tour and a twilight tour. The animals may be more active during the twilight tours.
Visitors must be 18 years or older to attend a twilight tour, and tickets are $28 per person.
Guests of any age can attend daytime tours, and tickets are $18 for ages 13 and older, $12.50 for ages 4-12 and free for ages 0-3.
▪ Tours generally have limited capacity and often sell out. The rescue recommends booking your visit early and well in advance, as tours are the only way you can see the animals.
▪ All tours go on rain or shine. In the event of an extreme weather event, Carolina Tiger Rescue will contact guests if they need to cancel any tours.
▪ The rescue’s education center is wheelchair accessible, but other parts of the facility, such as gravel paths, may not be as easy to navigate. If you have accessibility needs, call 919-542-4684 to make arrangements for your visit.
You can find out more information about tours of Carolina Tiger Rescue at carolinatigerrescue.org/tours.
Contact information & location for Carolina Tiger Rescue
▪ Carolina Tiger Rescue is located at 1940 Hanks Chapel Rd. in Pittsboro.
▪ Find out more information about the rescue and the programming it offers by visiting carolinatigerrescue.org.
▪ You can contact Carolina Tiger Rescue by phone at 919-542-4684 or by email at info@carolinatigerrescue.org.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Lemurs, tigers and giraffes: A guide to animal experiences in or near the Triangle."
