Rare ‘dancing’ lemurs arrive at Chester Zoo

A pair of rare ‘dancing’ lemurs have arrived at Chester Zoo, in what is the first conservation breeding programme in Europe for one of the world’s most endangered primates.

Two Coquerel’s Sifaka lemurs, a critically endangered species on the International Union for Conservations of Nature red list, arrived at the zoo from America and have become the first of their kind to set foot in Europe. Mike Jordon, animal and plant director at the zoo, said: “What we aim to do now is to establish a safety net population in Europe’s top zoos and help to prevent their extinction.”