#slender lorises

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There are a number of subspecies of the red slender loris, and probably the most elusive of them in the Horton Plains slender loris, found only in the highlands of Sri Lanka.  This subspecies, adapted to a mountainous habitat where temperatures could drop below freezing, had shorter, stockier limbs and thicker fur than other slender lorises, making it much more closely resemble a slow loris.  Since 1937, this subspecies had only been sighted four times, and since the mid-1940s it was believed to be extinct.  In 2002, however, the subspecies was spotted again in Horton Plains National Park, and in 2009 a team from the Zoological Society of London managed to capture one of the animals, photographing, measuring, and taking samples from it before releasing it back into the wild.  It’s believed there may be as few as 100 Horton Plains slender lorises left in the wild, making it one of the world’s rarest primates.

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Unlike the slow loris, the red slender loris is extremely social.  They live in small, female-dominated groups that spend their days sleeping, play-wrestling, and grooming each other.  During the night, the adults will hunt for food alone, leaving the young waiting at the home nest.  This practice is known as “infant parking”.

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The grey slender loris are generally solitary and nocturnal, with males and females both defending territories against rivals.  The one exception is their sleeping arrangements.  During the day, grey slender lorises will sleep in groups of up to seven animals, which can consist of of parents, offspring, siblings, or strangers.  Males will be hostile to other males, unless they happen to share the same sleeping area, and females are friendlier to males that share their roost.  In addition, males have been observed tending to the infants of mothers in the sleeping group, the only paternal behaviour ever shown by the animal.

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Another massive problem facing both slender and slow lorises is that all species are believed to have great power in traditional medicine.  In Borneo, for example, it was believed that slow lorises are the gatekeepers to the afterlife.  In Sumatra, slow lorises will be buried under the foundation of a new house or a new road to bring good luck to travelers or inhabitants.  In Sumatra, loris meat is used as an aphrodisiac, and in Java, placing a piece of loris skull in the household water jug will make a husband more docile and compliant.  In parts of Cambodia, the gall bladder of the slow loris is used to make traditional tattoo ink.  In still more areas, loris parts are used to treat leprosy, broken bones, eye problems, or in love potions.  Despite efforts by conservation groups, native populations believe very strongly in the medicinal power of loris parts, and are reluctant to give them up even when offered alternatives.