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Baby Lemur Dies At Lake Superior Zoo In Duluth

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) -- A month-old lemur has died at the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth.

Zoo officials say the lemur collapsed during the night. The Duluth News Tribune reports the unnamed baby died during rescue efforts Friday morning.

Leslie Larsen, the zoo's director of education and animal care, says the mother, 2-year-old Coby, apparently had rejected her baby as she attempted to nurse.

Larsen says baby lemurs are like humans in that they need to nurse constantly. One night of missed nursing can be enough to starve a baby lemur.

The lemur had been born at the zoo April 1. Lemurs are a primate native to the island nation of Madagascar off the coast of Africa and are a "near-threatened" species.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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