Ol’ Blue-Eyes

Like most remaining wildlife in Madagascar, lemurs are rare and endangered, so even in zoos they’re not easy to find.

Only about 100 to 1,000 of the primitive old-world monkeys with cat-like faces remain in the wild, and most of them have dark fur and dark eyes.

Even more rare is the blue-eyed lemur. There are only 65 in zoos worldwide, and only four zoos in the U.S. have them.

But you don’t have to travel thousands of miles anymore to see them. Now the L.A. Zoo has three blue-eyed lemurs, making it the only zoo on the West Coast to exhibit the exotic animals.

The only other U.S. zoos that have blue-eyed lemurs are in Philadelphia, North Carolina and Georgia.

In mid-November a family of three blue-eyed lemurs came to the L.A. Zoo from the Duke University Primate Center in North Carolina.

Folks at the Duke center named the entire family after Hollywood actors.

The 12-year-old mother is named Bacall after Lauren Bacall, the 6-year-old father is Cagney after James Cagney and their 7-month-old offspring is Dern, for Laura Dern.

The females have reddish fur and the male has black fur. All three have big, beaming blue eyes that can be spotted from afar.

“I can’t think of another primate with blue eyes,” said Mike Dee, L.A. Zoo curator of mammals. “Their eyes are amazing.”

The perfectly round eyes practically glow, so they’re the first thing you notice. They appear shiny from a distance, and the contrast with the dark fur makes them stick out even more.

Bacall, Cagney and Dern live in a large caged area with lots of green plants and trees. The idea, of course, is to create a living environment that resembles a rain forest similar to that of Madagascar, a large island in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Africa.

Eventually, Dern will go to another zoo, but her mother and father will stay in L.A. and, it is hoped, breed again.

“It may be a year before the offspring leaves, but the other two are on permanent loan,” Dee said.

The L.A. Zoo was able to get the extremely rare lemurs, Dee says, because for years it has been involved with rescuing animals from Madagascar.

“We have a vested interest, more so than other zoos, and we’ve put a lot of money into it,” he said.

Blue-eyed lemurs are among the most primitive of all living primates. Full grown, their body length is about 16 inches, their tail is 22 inches and they weigh about 5 1/2 pounds.

They have a moist muzzle, facial whiskers and a long, narrow skull. Ring-tailed lemurs look a lot like raccoons.

Lemurs are also very healthy eating only fruits and vegetables.

They’re near extinction because their natural habitat in Madagascar is one of the world’s most threatened ecological environments, where 80% of the forests are gone.

“There are 35 to 40 species of lemurs, and the L.A. Zoo has five species,” Dee said. “The ring-tailed lemur is the most common type.”

On Nov. 21 a Sifaka lemur was born at the L.A. Zoo. It weighed about 3 1/2 ounces and had no fur.

If you’re at the zoo to check out the lemurs, you may also want to take a look at the special reindeer exhibit through Jan. 1.

Four reindeer from a farm called Operation Santa Claus in Oregon will be on display for the holidays.

The reindeer are the European counterpart of the North American caribou and are the only member of the deer family in which both males and females have antlers.

The large antlers, which shed and grow back each year, are a status symbol among reindeer; those with bigger antlers are said to be higher in the social structure.

These are just some of the things you can learn at the Rompin Reindeer exhibit.

You can also learn all sorts of interesting tidbits about lemurs from informative signs with illustrations posted outside their cages, and usually there’s a zoo employee on hand to answer questions.

BE THERE

L.A. Zoo is at the junction of the Ventura and Golden State freeways in Griffith Park. Blue-eyed lemurs are in the African section in exhibit 50, and the zoo is open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is $8.25 for adults and $3.25 for children 2-12. Information: (213) 666-4090.