Bengal slow loris

Appearance

Like other slow lorises, it has a wet nose (rhinarium), a round head, flat face, large eyes, small ears, a vestigial tail, and dense, woolly fur. The Bengal slow loris is nocturnal and arboreal, occurring in both evergreen and deciduous forests.

It is the largest species of slow loris, measuring 26 to 38 cm (10 to 15 in) from head to tail and weighing between 1 and 2.1 kg (2.2 and 4.6 lb).

Range and habitat

The species has the largest geographic range of all slow loris species and is native to Bangladesh, Northeast India, and Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Vietnam, southern China, and Thailand). It is the only nocturnal primate found in the northeast Indian states, that include Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tripura. It is found in parts of Yunnan and in southwest Guangxi in China, and has been recorded in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.

Populations have been declared locally extinct in southern Quảng Nam Province and parts of the highlands, and the same is expected in Song Thanh and Kon Cha Rang nature reserves. A survey in 2007 at the Thrisna Wildlife Sanctuary and Sipahijola Wildlife Sanctuary in Tripura, India, yielded an encounter rate of 0.22 individuals/km, with seven of nine sightings occurring within 1.71 km2 (0.66 sq mi) and most of the animals found at a height of 8–15 m (26–49 ft) and near the interior of wet, deciduous forest.

Habitat labels include forest.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet and breeding

The species acts as an important seed disperser and pollinator, as well as a prey item for several carnivores. The Bengal slow loris is not a seasonal breeder, unlike the pygmy slow loris.

Because they are not seasonal breeders, females could become pregnant when their offspring are approximately 6 months old, making possible for females to produce two offspring per year. It is a seed disperser and pollinator, as well as a prey item for carnivores. It is not a seasonal breeder, reproducing once every 12–18 months and usually giving birth to a single offspring.

In crisis

The species is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, and is threatened with extinction due to growing demand in the exotic pet trade and traditional medicine. In Vietnam, only 30% of the original forest cover remains due to the deforestation caused by the Vietnam War, and only 10% of that includes closed-canopy forests. In 1992, the population size was estimated between 16,000 and 17,000 individuals, based on available habitat. Even so, recent publications report that few individuals remain due to a reduced geographic range.

The Bengal slow loris may be restricted to a few isolated populations and is in serious threat of becoming locally extinct in parts of Assam and Meghalaya. Population density has been estimated between 0.03 and 0.33 individuals per km2 in Assam, India, according to a study published in 2006.

CITES lists this taxon on Appendix I. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.

Bengal slow loris is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Bengal slow loris, Wikidata item Q817174. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.