As carnivores, slender lorises do not tend to be picky, with research showing that they consume every part of their prey, which may include feathers, bones and hard exoskeletons. The reproductive strategy of the slender loris varies slightly from that of the other loris species. While most individuals live alone, some also live in pairs. There are two distinct mating seasons in the wild, one from April to May and another from October to November. In captivity, the slender loris breeds year round.
During mating season, the female is in estrus for a period of days. Gestation ranges from days. The maternal instinct is apparently strong, as captive females have been observed caring for the infants of other females. Offspring reach sexual maturity between 10 and 18 months more slowly in males and may give birth themselves soon after.
Slender lorises are solitary, nocturnal foragers who are active throughout the night. During the day, they sleep curled up in a ball in hollow trees or in the crook of a branch, bracing themselves by clutching nearby twigs with their spindly arms and delicate hands. While generally solitary, slender lorises have been seen foraging with a mate. As in other loris species, males will not tolerate the presence of other males in their territory.
Individuals communicate using urine scent marks, claiming territory or advertising their reproductive status to others. If threatened, slender lorises usually freeze and remain motionless until the danger has passed. They have a small, vestigial tail. Their most prominent feature is the pair of two large, closely set, brown eyes. Being arboreal, they spend most of their life on the trees. Though their movements are slow, they can climb up fast to the tree top when threatened.
They either hunt on their own or in pairs. They are known to be very social at dusk and dawn, interacting with others of their own. Their mating season is twice a year, from April to May as well as October to November. The loris produces a secretion from glands on the insides of its elbows, which, when mixed with its saliva, serves to venomize its bite. Better than a babysitter!
The eyes have it. The first thing you notice on a pygmy slow loris is its huge, round eyes. As a nocturnal hunter and forager, it needs those big eyes to detect its next meal.
Packed with retinal rods in its forward-facing eyes, it has sharp depth perception, even among the dim trees. Also enhancing its night vision is a reflective layer of tissue behind the retina called the tapetum lucidum—you may recognize it as eyeshine.
The pygmy slow loris has a short, dense, wooly coat that varies between light brownish to deep reddish brown, with a white chest and belly, and light-colored outlines on its face. Its tail is short to nonexistent, but its dexterous hands with opposable thumbs and feet make climbing and hanging around in trees a breeze.
Hang on. A pygmy slow loris can hang still from a branch for hours, if necessary. I am not a pet! As noted, they are nocturnal, so bright light is highly stressful for them.
Poachers target slow lorises by shining spotlights into the trees, which reflects off a loris's tapetum lucidum—a reflective layer in the eyes that improves night vision—and disorients them as the poacher nabs them. They transport the monkeys in dark, overcrowded, poorly ventilated containers, resulting in high mortality.
People who keep lorises cannot feed them appropriately, resulting in disease, distress, and early death for the lorises. Loris poaching is a savage black market that informed, compassionate consumers want no part of—no matter how adorable the little lorises are!
Awareness is key. These fascinating lorises belong in the forest, not under glaring lights getting combed with a toothbrush for social media. Big threats to a little primate. The pygmy slow loris is also preyed upon by pythons and hawk-eagles and humans.
The loris can even undulate in a serpentine fashion due to extra vertebrae , further deceiving a potential predator. If all other defenses fail, the animals may drop to the ground and flee, but only as a last resort. The reproductive habits of the pygmy slow loris are very similar to those of the slow loris. Mothers give birth every 12 to 18 months, producing small litters of one or two individuals after a day gestational period. Infants are soon capable of moving around short distances on branches after being parked.
Infants are weaned at about days. Female offspring reach sexual maturity first, usually around nine months of age, while males may not do so until 18 or 20 months have elapsed. While sympatric with slow lorises in part of its range, pygmy slow lorises are confined to a somewhat smaller geographical area. They are found in the countries of Vietnam, Laos, and the province of Yunnan in China. Where they do occur, members of this species are usually found in thick foliage deep in tropical rainforests.
They are also sometimes found in bamboo groves. Sparse distribution, coupled with a history of military activity and political upheaval in its home range, has taken its toll on this species.
Pygmy slow lorises are the most endangered of all the non-lemur prosimians. During the Vietnam War, much of their habitat was destroyed and they nearly disappeared from that country altogether. Recent studies, however, suggest that the animal is making a comeback and that its population in the country of Laos may be thriving.
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