SHORT FEATURE Cuddly Endangered Shakunt Pandey

A in the wild, emitting orange eye shine in response to flashed light. Picture Courtesy: Asian Journal 1(1), 2008.

“A peculiar little creature which lives in the dense forests of on display at the zoo. This adult male slow loris was found in north-east India… During the daytime it curls up into a ball and Gazole area of Malda district of West Bengal by a wonderstruck sleeps, thus becoming known in local language as the ‘shame resident who promptly handed it over to forest officials. faced cat’.” Since the creature does not occur in this area it was This is how acclaimed naturalist and conservationist E.P. believed that it was being trafficked but somehow managed Gee described the Bengal Slow Loris in his renowned and one to escape and caught the Good Samaritan’s attention. Conse- of the finest works on our country’s wildlife – The Wildlife quently, it was handed over to the Alipore Zoo on 12th July of India. 2016. Alipore Zoo for a past few years did not have a slow The slow loris which is nocturnal indeed is an elusive loris so this unexpected gift came as a pleasant surprise to both creature and very difficult to locate in its home, the trees and the zoo and the public at large. also in captivity in zoos and parks, if it is not kept in a special Now there are plans afoot at the Alipore Zoological Gar- nocturnal house. dens to make special arrangements to display the elusive Bengal In the 1990s the Alipore Zoological Gardens, Kolkata Slow Loris to the general public. had a very fine specimen of a Bengal Slow Loris. It lived in a The Bengal Slow Loris Nycticebus bengalensis is also specially designed wooden box made on a makeshift wooden known as the Bengal Loris or the Northern Slow Loris. It machan (platform). As they are nocturnal creatures, it never is nocturnal, arboreal, and has the largest geographic range stepped out of its box, during the day. Many zoo visitors being among the slow lorises. Its distribution ranges from Northeast unaware of its nocturnal behaviour thought the enclosure to India (all seven sister states), to Eastern Bangladesh, Southern be empty but those who knew about it had to be content with China, Myanmar (including the Mergui Archipelago), North its picture which was put up near its enclosure or which came and Central Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and northern Thailand. out in the newspapers as it only ventured out after dusk but Along with the Grey Slender Loris, found only in South unfortunately by then the zoo downed its shutter. India, it is India’s only nocturnal and has been recorded I had happened to see a Bengal Slow Loris in flesh and in the evergreen and semi evergreen forests of the North-eastern blood at the hospital of the Alipore Zoo where it had been put states. Elsewhere, it is also found in moist deciduous forests. It up for a mandatory quarantine period, before it was safely put is placed under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection)

26 | Science Reporter | March 2019 The Bengal Slow Loris found in Malda district of West Bengal now kept at the Alipore Zoo. Picture Credit: Sushant Sirkar/The Telegraph

A Bengal Slow Loris rescued from the bus stand in Jharkhand. Picture credit: The Telegraph

excellent night vision. It eats leaves, young shoots, fruits and insects. The animal stalks prey by slow, stealthy movements and then grabs it with the front feet in a fast and accelerating move followed by a bite. Being a beautiful cuddly creature it is being caught and kept as pet by the tribal communities of Northeast India. Act, 1972. It is categorized as vulnerable in the IUCN Red Internationally, they are also gaining popularity as an exotic List. It is also put in Appendix I of CITES (till 2007 it was pet which is leading to it being trafficked. Slow lorises also placed in Appendix II). end up in the medicines of village quacks. According to An The Bengal Slow Loris is a small fluffy, cuddly animal, Introduction to Primate Conservation by Serge A. Wich et al., smaller than a domestic cat. It has a well built body with in Cambodia, for instance, traditional Khmer medical practice rounded head and big round eyes having a dark brown circle uses Bengal Slow Loris and to treat 100 around each. Its wide eyed look has contributed to the old ailments. Slow loris is among the most commonly observed fashioned local saying in some circles “Don’t stare at me like mammals in traditional medicine shops in Cambodia. a Loris.” It is a well known fact among loris researchers that The Bengal Slow Loris like other animals is being Bengal Slow Lorises emit a bright orange eye shine in response displaced due to their habitat destruction. Concrete jungles to flashed light. have encroached on their habitats as human population is An adult loris has a dense, woolly, and brown-grey fur on burgeoning. its back and white fur on the underside. It has a very powerful While the bigger denizens of our forests like the tigers or grip. The well developed thumbs and toes help the animal in the elephants have hogged all the conservation attention for holding on to branches of trees. The Bengal Slow Loris sleeps decades, smaller creatures like the Bengal Slow Loris have by day curled up in a ball in dense vegetation or in a tree hole. been among the worst off and sadly out of the purview of According to Mammals of China Edited by Andrew A. conservation measures. Smith et al., both sexes attain maturity at eighteen months. It There are apprehensions that their population in the wild has a small swelling on the ventral side of its elbow called the is fast depleting and the chances of their captive breeding is brachial gland which secretes a pungent, clear oily toxin that also bleak since studies point out that these little creatures are the animal uses defensively by wiping it on its toothcomb; particularly susceptible to stress in non-natural environment studies suggest that the chemically complex oils may help the and their reproductive success rates in captivity are particularly lorises communicate with one another. low with highest infant mortality rate among all While in heat the female lorises emit a loud whistle that primates. attracts males. The slow lorises have a specific copulation The level of awareness about smaller creatures like these method whereby the female must suspend from a branch upside is low, which is a bad omen for their survival and conserva- down in order for mating to occur. The gestation period is six tion. It is firmly believed that creating awareness about smaller months. The female generally gives birth to one offspring per creatures like the Bengal Slow Loris is the first step towards litter. The life span of a Bengal Slow Loris is fifteen years. their conservation. The Bengal Slow Loris is an omnivorous creature and forages for food at night. Their large eyes possess pronounced Mr Shakunt Pandey is a popular science writer, senior freelance tapeta lucida (a layer of tissue in the eye lying immediately journalist and an author. Address: Lake Utsav, P-331 Parnasree behind the retina, it is a retro reflector), giving the animals Pally, Flat-3A, Kolkata-700060, West Bengal; Email: shakuntpan33@ gmail.com

March 2019 | Science Reporter | 27