Biography

Jovian was a male Coquerel's sifaka, a type of lemur, native to Madagascar. He was born at the Duke Lemur Center at Duke University in the spring of 1994.

Jovian had a wife named Pia.

Jovian had four grandchildren and two more grandchildren on the way when he died on November 10, 2014.

When Jovian died on November 10, 2014, Martin Kratt reminisced on Facebook, "He was great to work with. He'd jump in through the window and we'd feed him mangoes or garbanzo beans. Sometimes he'd grab our noses with those soft sifaka hands." He also added, "He was very social and calm. He was young and good-looking and very gentle." Workers at the Duke Lemur Center described him as good-looking and gentle: "He was a graceful, long-limbed co-star with cream and russet fur and bright, intelligent yellow eyes, and he taught millions of children what a lemur is," the center wrote in a news release. "Watching our young interns get excited over being in the presence of the real Zoboomafoo this summer made me realize just how lucky those of us at the Lemur Center were who had the opportunity to get to know the real Jovian in his prime," said the center's registrar and photographer David Haring. He added, "He was a playful, gentle, intelligent animal and perhaps one of the best sifaka sires ever.".

Jovian had 12 children, including Conrad, Ferdinand, Gertrude, Matilda, Eleanor, Gisela, Wilhelmina, and Charlemagne (passionately known as Charlie).