Perth Zoo’s black-and-white ruffed lemurs celebrate Halloween on World Lemur Day with pumpkin treats

The black-and-white ruffed lemur brothers at Perth Zoo got stuck into early Halloween celebrations by enjoying pumpkins stuffed with their favourite treats, including grapes and carrots.

Marco, Maphuti, Toliara and Matsiro wasted no time diving into the frightfully fun enrichment, which helps keep them active, engaged, and curious.

It’s quite fitting that the spooky-looking primates celebrated Halloween on Friday — which also happens to be World Lemur Day — as the word lemur means a ‘night wandering ghost’, referring to their stealthy, noiseless movement through the forest at night.

Other ghoulish features include their affinity for hanging upside down like a bat, specialised sharp fang-like teeth and their deafening howl they use to alarm their family groups of danger.

In fact, their calls are so loud they can be harmful to human ears at close range. Their calls also make them one of the loudest at Perth Zoo and can be heard across the grounds.

But the scariest fact is they are the most threatened group of mammals on Earth.

As a critically endangered species their populations in the wild are at risk of extinction with increasing pressures of habitat loss due to the expansion of the human population in Madagascar.

That’s why the Zoo is working closely with conservation partner Madagascan Flora and Fauna to help protect these species in the wild.

The Halloween fun continues this weekend, with Perth Zoo transforming into a spooky after-hours adventure for the return of Boo at the Zoo on Friday and Saturday.

Visitors can enjoy trick-or-treat stations, a monster mash disco, a zombie rainforest and pumpkin-themed activities.