Zoboo the

When Martin Kratt was an undergraduate at Duke, he studied with Dr. Ken Glander, Director of the Duke University Primate Center. He was also a volunteer at the Primate Center while he was a student. Dr. Glander took Martin on his first animal expedition.

Martin's love for the lemurs stayed with him and when he and Chris were looking for a co-host for Zoboomafoo they immediately thought of the Primate Center. They came to Duke looking for a cute lemur. A Primate Center technician introduced them to Jovian. He had a "screen test", everybody fell in love with him and Jovian became Zoboo!!

The production crew for Zoboomafoo came to the Primate Center in September, 1997 and were at the Center filming for a little over 2 months. They built part of the set for Animal Junction inside Jovian's cage and that's where they filmed the parts of the show where Chris and Martin are interacting with the live animal.

The fame doesn't seem to be going to Jovian's head. He still waits patiently for his keeper to bring him his food and so far he's made no special "star" demands.

Some interesting facts about the primate center:

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The Primate Center was established in 1966

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They have the world's largest captive collection of ENDANGERED lemurs

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They house over 300 animals - 20 Coquerel's sifaka like Jovian, 4 of those individuals are infants.

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Jovian, who plays Zoboo, was 5 years old on April 10, 1999

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Jovian's mother, Flavia, was wild caught in Madagascar in 1986

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Jovian's father, Nigel, is our oldest sifaka, born at the Center in 1972

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Jovian has a new baby sister, Rupilia, who was born on February 16, 1999

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Visits to the Center are available your-round by appointment ONLY - Tours are not just for organized groups, anyone can call for an appointment. Because they are not a zoo, they can provide only guided tours of our facility.

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Over 5 thousand area school kids went to the Center on school field trips in 1998 and 1999 has been even busier than previous years

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Zoboo (Jovian) and all the sifaka eat poison ivy !!! And they love White Oak acorns.

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You can also see Coquerel's sifaka at the Los Angeles Zoo and the St. Louis Zoo.

If you want to go to the Primate Center and see Zoboo (Jovian) and all the other lemurs be sure to call ahead. They can provide only guided tours of the facility and they have to arrange for tours guides for each day. Therefore, there are a limited number of spaces available each day, call as soon as you determine the date you'd like to visit them. They provide tours Monday through Saturday, closed on Sunday and holidays. Just call 919-489-3364 .

The centers address is : The Duke University Primate Center 3705 Erwin Road Durham, North Carolina 27705 (919)489-3364 primate@acpub.duke.edu

Visit their site at : http://www.duke.edu/web/primate/