ESR Special

Conservation and ecology of slow lorises

From left to right: Sumatran slow loris Nycticebus coucang hilleri (Photo: K.A.I. Nekaris); pygmy slow loris Nycticebus pygmaeus (photo: K.A.I. Nekaris); Javan slow loris Nycticebus javanicus (photo: A. Walmsley); Bengal slow loris Nycticebus bengalensis (photo: N. Das)

Slow lorises are an evolutionarily distinct group of primates found in South and Southeast Asia. All are threatened with extinction not only due to habitat loss, but also due to their high prevalence in Asian traditional medicine, use as tourist photo props, and their high popularity as pets both nationally and internationally. Recently, slow lorises have featured frequently in international media largely due to this conservation crisis. For example, in 2007, they were the first primate since 1986 to be transferred to Appendix I of CITES. From 2009 onwards, they have been a regular feature in the global media as more and more popular media outlets discuss the legality of slow loris ‘pet’ videos on social networking sites. Finally, the discovery of three new species in 2012 was instantly linked with the fact that these species are in sharp decline, which is bad news for the new taxa. The fact that lorises are the only venomous primates also makes them particularly vulnerable. The latter fact is just one of the many fascinating aspects of ecology within this unique evolutionary group of primates, whose feeding ecology, social behaviour, and distribution were not even known ten years ago.

In this Theme Section, contributors studying lorises throughout their range in India, Cambodia, Thailand, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Singapore and Vietnam will bring together the first synthesis of the conservation and ecology of this fascinating group of species.

Editorial team for the Theme Section: Dr. Anna Nekaris and Dr. Carly Starr (Guest Editor).

CONTENT

Munds RA, Ali R, Nijman V, Nekaris KAI, Goossens B
Living together in the night: abundance and habitat use of sympatric and allopatric populations of slow lorises and tarsiers
ESR 22:269-277 | Full text in pdf format

Kumar A, Sarma K, Panvor J, Mazumdar K, Devi A, Krishna M, Ray PC
Threats to the Bengal slow loris Nycticebus bengalensis in and around Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh, India: impediments to conservation
ESR 23:99-106 | Full text in pdf format

Svensson MS, Friant SC
Threats from trading and hunting of pottos and angwantibos in Africa resemble those faced by slow lorises in Asia
ESR 23:107-114 | Full text in pdf format

Das N, Nekaris KAI, Bhattacharjee PC
Medicinal plant exudativory by the Bengal slow loris Nycticebus bengalensis
ESR 23:149-157 | Full text in pdf format

Cabana F, Plowman A
Pygmy slow loris Nycticebus pygmaeus-natural diet replication in captivity
ESR 23:197-204 | Full text in pdf format

Fuller G, Lukas KE, Kuhar C, Dennis PM
A retrospective review of mortality in lorises and pottos in North American zoos, 1980-2010
ESR 23:205-217 | Full text in pdf format

Voskamp A, Rode EJ, Coudrat CNZ, Wirdateti , Abinawanto , Wilson RJ, Nekaris KAI
Modelling the habitat use and distribution of the threatened Javan slow loris Nycticebus javanicus
ESR 23:277-286 | Full text in pdf format

Nekaris KAI, Pambudi JAA, Susanto D, Ahmad RD, Nijman V
Densities, distribution and detectability of a small nocturnal primate (Javan slow loris Nycticebus javanicus) in a montane rainforest
ESR 24:95-103 | Full text in pdf format

Fam SD, Lee BPYH, Shekelle M
The conservation status of slow lorises Nycticebus spp. in Singapore
ESR 25:69-77 | Full text in pdf format

Nijman V, Nekaris KAI
Traditions, taboos and trade in slow lorises in Sundanese communities in southern Java, Indonesia
ESR 25:79-88 | Full text in pdf format

Kenyon M, Streicher U, Loung H, Tran T, Tran M, Vo B, Cronin A
Survival of reintroduced pygmy slow loris Nycticebus pygmaeus in South Vietnam
ESR 25:185-195 | Full text in pdf format

Moore RS, Wihermanto, Nekaris KAI
Compassionate conservation, rehabilitation and translocation of Indonesian slow lorises
ESR 26:93-102 | Full text in pdf format

Gray AE, Wirdateti , Nekaris KAI
Trialling exudate-based enrichment efforts to improve the welfare of rescued slow lorises Nycticebus spp.
ESR 27:21-29 | Full text in pdf format