Wildlife Alliance

Slow Loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus)

Status: Vulnerable. Listed as CITES Appendix I due to the threat of overexploitation and illegal trade. All slow lorises are considered Vulnerable or Endangered by the IUCN.

Description: The Slow Loris is a small, slow-moving, arboreal primate native to South and Southeast Asia

Habitat Range:

This species is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

In India, the Slow Loris is found in the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya. Isolated populations appear to have also survived deforestation in Singapore. They reside primarily in the main tree canopy of tropical Southeast Asian rainforests.

Also: Nycticebus coucang, Nycticebus bengalensis

The Slow Loris is a small, slow-moving primate. While rarely observed out of the treetops, when witnessed on the ground they move with a wavering trot.

Life Expectancy: 14 years

Numbers Left in the Wild: Unknown

Primary Threats:

One threat to the Slow Loris is from domesticated cats that hunt them.

Humans also pose a serious threat because of the belief that the Slow Loris can provide cures and remedies, such as for women having difficulty in childbirth, and that Slow Loris are good-luck charms.

Their fur is also used to make clothing. Some lorises, especially orphaned babies, are sold in markets or smuggled illegally abroad in the international exotic pet trade. An online search for "Slow Loris" will reveal quite a few videos and photographs of pet Slow Lorises.

What we are doing to help:

• Wildlife Alliance's Care for Rescued Wildlife program cares for many rescued Slow Lorises that have been victims of the illegal wildlife trade.

• The Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) operates busts on wildlfe trading operations to prevent species like the Slow Loris from being illegally traded. July 2008: Two Slow Lorises Rescued

• When in Thailand, Wildlife Alliance's Sold Out campaign put up billboards in markets and other public areas where wildlife trade in exotic pets often occured. The idea is to target a relatively affluent audience who may not realize their inadvertent support of the illegal trade by purchasing a Slow Loris as a pet.