News: Kerala and Tamil Nadu have begun efforts to restore habitats and strengthen monitoring of the grey slender loris.
About Gray Slender Loris
- The gray slender loris is a small nocturnal primate. They belongs to the group of prosimians, which represents some of the oldest and most primitive primates.
- Scientific name: Loris lydekkerianus
- Sub- species: Malabar slender loris, Mysore slender loris, Northern Ceylonese slender loris, and Highland slender loris.
- Habitat: In India, gray slender lorises inhabit tropical dry forests in high-altitude areas and subtropical regions near plantations.
- In Sri Lanka, they are mainly found in dry-zone forests with evergreen vegetation.
- Distribution
- Endemic: Southern and Eastern India and Sri Lanka.
- In India, they are found in the southern regions of the Eastern and Western Ghats.
- The Malabar and Mysore subspecies occur in India, while the Northern Ceylonese and Highland subspecies are endemic to Sri Lanka.
- Physical Characteristics
- The gray slender loris is the smallest species of loris.
- Adults weigh about 255 grams and measure approximately 21.5 centimetres in length.
- They lacks a tail, contributing to its small appearance.
- Coat colour varies by subspecies, ranging from greyish-brown in Indian populations to reddish tones in Sri Lankan populations.
- All subspecies have large forward-facing eyes with dark patches, adapted for nocturnal vision.
- It has long limbs of equal length and strong, grasping hands with opposable thumbs.
- Its lower teeth form a comb-like structure used for grooming and feeding.
- Unlike many primates, it cannot jump or leap due to the absence of a tail.
- Diet: They are primarily insectivorous.
- Their diet mainly includes ants and termites, along with beetles, spiders, mollusks, and small vertebrates.
- Behaviour and Lifestyle: Gray slender lorises are nocturnal and arboreal, spending most of their lives in trees.
- They use all four limbs to move cautiously along branches in dry forest canopies.
- Grey slender lorises is unique among lorises for its occasional ability to move quickly when threatened.
- Defence Mechanisms: When threatened, gray slender lorises often freeze to avoid detection.
- If necessary, they growl and release a strong-smelling secretion from scent glands under their arms.
- Ecological Role: As insect predators, gray slender lorises help regulate insect populations.
- They also form part of the food chain, serving as prey for larger predators such as snakes, birds of prey, and carnivorous mammals.
- Threats: Major threats include habitat loss due to deforestation, hunting, and illegal wildlife trade.
- Conservation Status
- IUCN: Near Threatened
- CITES: Appendix II
- Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
