This awards provides a portion of the core support for the Duke University Primate Center (DUPC). The DUPC houses the largest and most diverse collection of prosimian primates in the world and is recognized as a focal point for prosimian research and conversation. The DUPC concurrently operates as a research resource providing animals, tissues and blood samples to scientists on a local, regional, national and international level. Behavioral research is enhanced by Natural Habitat Enclosures (NHE) totaling 65 acres. In-house research is conducted by faculty, staff members, visiting scientists, and post-doctoral researchers from local, national, and international institutions. Research on prosimians has continued to increase during recent years in scope, intensity and sophistication, and is now one of the most active and exciting fields of primatogy. However, prosimian primates are not a renewable resource. Importation of wild-caught prosimians has declined, but the Malagasy government has uniquely supported the need to diversity the DUPC's population of endangered prosimian species. The captive propagation of prosimians has become a necessity in order to support continued research on this important and little-known group of primates. The DUPC is the only university-related research facility in the world devoted exclusively to the study of prosimians.
