A trio of lemurs at Great Bend’s Brit Spaugh Zoo has dwindled to one, Zoo Director Scott Gregory said. The lone lemur will be returned to Tanganyika Wildlife Park, and the local zoo will work on upgrading the exhibit area before seeking more lemurs.
Gregory and staff have been working to bring young animals to the zoo, which has seen additions such as lions, bears, cougars and arctic foxes. Meanwhile, some of the older animals have passed away. On Sept. 15, an 18-year-old lioness named Barusha was euthanized due to ill health.
“We euthanized the lion due to a ruptured eye that made her 100 percent blind,” Gregory said. “Upon necropsy results, we found that she had lung cancer. We obviously had no idea, but her quality of life was pretty bad so the decision to euthanize her had to be made.
“We also had to euthanize one of our ring-tail lemurs, which we suspect was suffering from Leukemia,” Gregory said. He is still waiting for necropsy results, but the animal’s quality of life was again the main consideration. “She was having trouble breathing, walking, sitting, and just general movements were tough,” he said.
The first of the three lemurs died last April. Results of a necropsy were inconclusive, but it was believed the animal was advanced in age.
“We think the lemurs were in the late teens, which is a good lifespan,” Gregory said. “Since lemurs are social we are going to place our one remaining lemur at Tanganyika Zoo in Goddard, where he was born, and we will renovate their enclosure and bring in a different species of endangered lemurs.” Possible replacements include red-ruffed lemurs and black and white lemurs.

Upcoming events
A new feature called “Zoo-vies” allows adults to have a night out and leave the baby-sitting to the zoo staff. Education Coordinator Sarah Cruz said the zoo plans to show a children’s movie once a month. The next movie will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16. Space is limited to 25 children.
“We will be showing an animal themed movie and will provide drinks and popcorn,” Cruz said. “The fee is $5 and is due at sign-up by Oct.15th. Sign up at the zoo or contact me, education@greatbendzoo.com or 620-639-2495 with any questions.”
Oct. 16 is also the day that “Jungle” Jack Hanna will appear at Barton Community College’s Fine Arts Auditorium. Tickets sold out the week they went on sale for this fundraiser for the Great Bend Zoological Society.
Halloween will come early for Great Bend children. The Kiwanis parade and the zoo’s Zoo Boo will be held on Saturday, Oct. 25.