Wildlife Alliance

Slow Loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus)

Status: Vulnerable

Description: Also: Nycticebus coucang, Nycticebus bengalensis The Slow Loris is a small, slow-moving, primate. Life Expectancy: 14 years

Habitat Range:

This species is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

In India the Slow Loris is found in the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya. Isolated populations appear to have also survived deforestation in Singapore. They reside primarily in the main tree canopy of tropical Southeast Asian rainforests.

Also: Nycticebus coucang, Nycticebus bengalensis

The Slow Loris is a small, slow-moving, primate. While rarely observed out of the treetops, when witnessed on the ground they move with a wavering trot.

Life Expectancy: 14 years

Numbers Left in the Wild: Unknown

Primary Threats:

Predators include cats, sun bears, and Paradoxurus (palm civets). A major threat of the Slow Loris is often being out-competed by arboreal monkeys in their overlapping territories.

Humans also pose a serious threat to the Slow Loris because of legends about the use of them in folkloric medicine as cures and as luck charms. There fur is also used to make clothing. Some, especially orphaned babies, are sold in markets as pets. An online search for "Slow Loris" will reveal quite a few videos and photographs of pet Slow Lorises.

What we are doing to help:

• Wildlife Alliance's Care for Rescued Wildlife program cares for many rescued Slow Lorises that have been victims of the illegal wildlife trade.

• The Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) operates busts on wildlfe trading operations to prevent species like the Slow Loris from being illegally traded. July 2008: Two Slow Lorises Rescued

• In Thailand, Wildlife Alliance's Sold Out campaign puts up billboards in markets and other public area where wildlife trade in exotic pets often occurs. The idea is to target a relatively affluent audience who may not realize their inadvertent support of the illegal trade by purchasing a Slow Loris as a pet.