TORONTO — Jovian, the lemur star of the PBS nature series Zoboomafoo, died Monday. He was 20.
A Coquerel sifaka lemur, Jovian succumbed to kidney failure at the Duke Lemur Center in North Carolina.
He delighted preschoolers in 65 episodes of the series, which ran from 1999 to 2001 and featured brothers Chris and Martin Kratt. It continues to air in syndication.
“He was great to work with,” said Martin Kratt. “He’d jump in through the window and we’d feed him mangoes or garbanzo beans. Sometimes he’d grab our noses with those soft sifaka hands.”
Get daily National news
David Haring of the Duke Lemur Center said Jovian “was a playful, gentle, intelligent animal and perhaps one of the best sifaka sires ever.”
Fans are sharing their condolences on Facebook.
Duke said Jovian was born to Flavia, who was caught in Madagascar, and Nigel, who was born at the facility.
He is survived by partner Pia and brother Julian as well as many children and grandchildren.
Comments