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Lemurs Give Wake-Up Call to Remember at National Zoo

A pair of black-and-white ruffed lemurs at Smithsonian’s National Zoo recently gave their fellow residents a wake-up call to remember, footage released on July 7 shows.

Black-and-white ruffed lemurs usually sound what the zoo dubbed an “alarm call” in response to a disturbance in their environment, either visual or auditory, the zoo said.

The lemurs in this video – Aloke and Wiley – will sometimes screech, or “alarm call”, when loud noises startle them.

Writing about the pair on Facebook, the zoo said even ducks and turtles that cohabit with them on Lemur Island can cause these reaction.

“Mostly, though, they seem to alarm call when there is a favorite food in the habitat and they want the ring-tailed lemurs to know they have first dibs,” the zoo said. Credit: Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute via Storyful