Locals recently came to the rescue of a Baby Slow Loris in Tripura’s Khowai District. Villagers noticed the animal all alone in the jungle and knowing that it could be harmed by poachers or could die if left alone, they rescued and gave the animal to the local forest officials.
Slow Loris is an endangered primate. There are five subspecies and the one most commonly found in India is known as the Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus Bengalensis). It is largest of all the slow loris species with a height of approximately 10-12 inches.
It generally lives in a group of 4 or 5 and therefore the baby slow loris found all alone seemed strange to the villagers. Although mothers are known to leave their baby on tree branches while searching for food, the villagers seemed to have found the baby alone for a long time.
According to the divisional forest officer A K Bhowmik, the animals are omnivore, feeding on insects as well as plants, flowers and seeds. He said that the baby did not resist being captured by the locals and seemed to be in good health.
He added that with reduction in forest cover the population of slow loris was being threatened. The endangered animal is also smuggled to different countries of south-east Asia as part of wild life trade and traditional medicine, Bhowmik said
As per IUCN the species is listed as vulnerable and its population is decreasing at the rate of 30 percent in 70 years approximately.
The baby rescued by the villagers has been sent to Sepahijala zoo for nursing.
Image courtesy Arkive
