News

Mysterious primate caught on camera for the first time

Tuesday 20th July 2010

Slender loris in captivity
Slender loris in captivity

One of the rarest and most elusive primates in the world, the Horton Plains slender loris, or highland slender loris (Loris tardigradus nycticeboides), has finally been caught on camera.

This mysterious, bug-eyed creature, which has only been seen four times since its discovery in 1937, was tracked down and captured in the mountains of central Sri Lanka by a team of scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) EDGE of Existence Programme. Found nowhere else on earth, this rare primate disappeared between 1939 and 2002, leading many experts to consider it to be extinct. However, after some 200 hours of painstaking surveys, it was finally captured on camera for the first time.

Before being released back into the wild, the captured individual was given a close examination, allowing researchers to conduct pioneering studies on this enigmatic mammal. It was found to have shorter limbs and longer fur than any other loris on Sri Lanka in adaptation to its high-altitude lifestyle, making it even more unique than previously thought. Discussing this remarkable discovery, ZSL Conservation Biologist Dr. Craig Turner was “thrilled to have captured the first ever photographs” and said that the latest finding “improves knowledge” on this shy creature.

Listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with perhaps less than 100 left in the wild, the Horton Plains slender loris is on the very brink of extinction. The clearance of tropical forests for tea plantations has decimated its natural habitat, restricting it to a number of tiny forest fragments covering less than one percent of the island. Conservation efforts will now focus on protecting what little remains of this loris’s habitat in the hope of reversing its desperate plight.

For more information on the discovery of the Horton Plains slender loris and its conservation, see:

Explore more of Sri Lanka’s threatened species on ARKive



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