The Duke Primate Center is the home to a collection of some of the most endangered primate species on the planet.  At its largest, the center housed over 700 individuals from over 25 Lemur species.  While it excelled in the study of these rare primates, it struggled with basic housing requirement.  Ursa was invited to assist in the planning effort to identify methods and procedures to provide adequate year-round housing for all the inhabitants. 

North Carolina has a wide climate range, with potential for several weeks of subfreezing weather.  After over 30 years of catching-up lemurs in the large Natural Habitat Enclosures and squeezing them into an already crowded main building, the center finally has a "lemur barn"  to house the free-ranging troops during the freezing weather.

The Concept Plan charted a phased plan to accommodate the entire collection with modern facilities.  With the upgrade in the animal facilities the center hopes to be able to continue to assure its contributions to the research and teaching missions of the university.  The University has committed an additional $350,000 to be used to develop phase II of the plan.