The Nightwatch 27 September 2012 Volume 1, Issue 3

First Ever Awareness Week—Sept 2012

Following on the success of our previous newsletters, we elected to give Issue 3 of the Little Fireface Project news- letter a name - Nightwatch!

Inside this issue: The last three months have brought many successes and The Kukang Clan, part 2 setbacks to the world of loris 2 conservation. These were highlighted during the first Loris Awareness 4 ever Loris Awareness Week, Week Highlights which was celebrated by our Trouble in 5 partners in the UK, Germany, and USA and by partners in loris habitat countries: Cam- New Little Fireface 6 bodia, , Thailand, Malay- of loris t-shirts. Altogether Online Shop! sia and of course . water colours of all the differ- during the week we raised ent loris . These activi- Activities during Loris Aware- £450 for loris conservation, ties are so important as we are ness Week included a Twitter which will be used for educa- more likely to remember extravaganza, whereby various tion materials in Thailand to when we have listened about a celebrities received loris con- help curtail the loris photo topic and then done some- servation awards; some Re- prop trade, and towards con- thing ourselves. tweeted the loris message to struction of an emergency their followers, as well as a Captive facilities joined in as enclosure in for sick and Loris Tweet-a-thon with 50 well. Cleveland Zoo created a injured . loris facts in a single hour! loris blog, that they hope to Many groups featured the The Angkor Centre for Con- keep as a feature of their web servation and Biodiversity in site. The Duke Centre Upcoming Events Angkor Wat had a made sure to make a feature of the lorises to their visitors • ‘slow loris awareness corner’ 10th October—Prof to their centre and to their Nekaris lectures at with a giant loris manga mas- cot called ‘Dollar’ named by web site, even creating a loris the Ango-Indonesian Facebook icon. Shaldon Wild- Society, London the children. Staff handed out ‘be fast to save slow loris’ life Trust created a loris cen- • 8th November—Little tre, with a Loris Poet-tree. stickers and children coloured Week, including TRAFFIC Fireface Project in- in slow loris masks. Two artists donated stunning , Love Wildlife vades the Digital Arts artwork to raise money for Festival, Somerset Colouring was the theme of Thailand, ProWildlife Germa- the week. In Java our village loris awareness, through crea- ny, and . • 20th November— children who are still too tion of a sterling silver pen- Anna and the Grem- young to draw etched lorises dant and a felted loris. St All in all the week served its lins hits Plan- into their minds through col- Pauls Girls School organised a purpose, and we hope more et, USA ouring. In Assam India, chil- bake sale for lorises, and people are aware of the loris dren took this a step further many Fireface fans helped the and its plight. and made elegantly beautiful loris through their purchase Anna Nekaris Pa ge 2 The Little Fireface Project Volume 1, Issue 3

The Kukang Clan—Part 2!

We don’t anaesthetize lorises like Mo, so they can be put straight back ‘home’ within minutes of getting their collars on. Processing takes less than 30 minutes.

Charlie Tereh Mo Tahini

Carrying on from the last two meters distance! Of dence, but her is also one newsletter, we continue the course that can be of disad- of the fluffiest and most beau- story of “The Kukang Clan”, vantage for the animal as well, tiful of all . the slow lorises that we follow as hunters could very easily The lonely loris – or Miss in Cipaganti, West Java pick her up and trade her to Ojek Clever mum be sold on the notorious ani- mal markets in Jakarta. In the After an unsuccessful capture The first thing we noticed morning, Tahini meets her night, a local man visited our about this animal when we mother Tereh again, and we house in the morning and told started observing her is that observed her carrying her us he captured a loris at his she is very fast. This is the offspring on her back through house. Although we made reason for her name: Tereh the . But as Tahini is clear that we do not want means fast in Sunda language. already quite big, it cannot people to capture lorises, not Or at least we thought she is ride on the back normally but even for us, we went to his fast! In the meantime we clings to its mum like a belt place and radio-collared the know that she tricks us. She Read more about the around the back. adult female. We released Kukang Clan on PhD uses the straight water pipes Robinson where the local student Johanna that run like power lines sev- “The Fighter” told us he found her. As this Rode’s Field Blog! eral meters above the fields as When we caught Mo he was area was a very isolated patch a “motorway” to the faraway http:// (understandably) very upset. of bamboo, adjacent to the littlefireface.blogspot. places of our study site. Like As soon as we took him out village, we called her. In the co.uk/ that she always manages to of the capture bag, he bit Jo- next days, Robinson surprised disappear at one place and hanna and tried to escape. us. She crossed four different appear at a very distant place Also during observations, Mo villages and travelled several quickly. Tereh is also the is rather suspicious. Being kilometres until she recently mother of Tahini. careful is a good trait in a reached the gardens where we “The belt” loris’ life in order to avoid observe the other lorises. We being preyed on or captured cannot be sure, but maybe she Tahini has not been caught by humans. did not belong to the place yet because she is still too where we released her, and young. Over the last weeks, Our Highness she tried to find her way she has become less and less Opposite to Mo, Elizabeth home. Because she travels so fluffy, until now she has only took her first capture with far and crosses human set- a rim of fluff around her bum! majestic dignity: she was very tlings, our local guide Mr. But during the night she al- calm and did not even want to Dendy called her “Ojek”, the ready roams around inde- bite on the syringe that we use speedy motorbike taxis of pendently. We saw her feed- to sample some saliva from Indonesia. Recently, Pak ing intensively on gum. Tahi- her mouth. We caught her on Dendy wanted to change her Johanna bundled up to study the ni is not afraid of us at all. the highest point of our study name to “Helicopter” as he Kukang Clan—now we know why During gouging for gum, we site, so her name seems to be thought an Ojek would not be lorises have such thick fur...brrrr! can observe her from only appropriate. Maybe coinci- fast enough. The Little Fireface Project Volume 1, Issue 3 Pa ge 3

Kukang Clan—Part 2 (cont)

The treasure Charlie was so easy to catch. . radio-collared six animals, we Our local guide Mr. Wawan saw Guntur fighting with an just picked her up from a Morris, the loris unknown male. The male “Robinson surprised bush of Kaleandra, one of the chased the screaming Guntur us. She crossed four flowers whose nectar the Morris is the last loris that through the bamboo for sev- different villages and lorises love so much. During was caught. As we were run- eral hours, even biting him travelled several inspection we found her lac- ning out radio-collars we did ” - Johanna once followed by Guntur fall- kilometres! tating. And indeed, a few days not want to catch any more Rode ing 1.5 meters. They fought later we observed her with her lorises. But as we need sam- about Ena. After Guntur out- offspring, Shirley . Shirley is ples for our study and ran of the other loris, we saw still much smaller than our Morris “volunteered” we gave him sleeping next to Ena. Af- other youngsters, 2/3 of her him a yellow bracelet on the ter a while, suddenly the mother’s size. Charlie’s GPS right wrist, so we can identify branches shook and the other symbol is the treasure. We him. Although we cannot male chased Guntur away and found that appropriate, be- track him, we met him already took his place next to Ena. We cause good loris mummies are several times while observing are now pretty sure that this important for the population, other individuals. During the stranger was indeed Morris! as the are an first weeks when we had only Johanna Rode Tales from the bush—how many lorises are there?

The MSc in Conservation at though I arrived barely an hour ago in Oxford Brookes University requires the research station and travelled the students to choose a project for their whole day to get there, I went with final dissertation. Marlies Albers from them in the forest and released this the Netherlands chose to quantify the loris. A precious moment I will never abundance of lorises at Cipaganti as forget. well as to analyse their endo-parasites My research project focused on three (or lack thereof!). subjects: habitat type, population size Marlies and the LFP team at “I am one of Prof Nekaris’ students and parasites. During the night I Awareness Training for villagers doing the MSc in Primate Conserva- walked systematically cut transects to tion. For this degree I had to set up a count lorises and during the day I was research project. Without a doubt I in the field measuring trees. I aimed to choose the Javan slow loris. After a examine if a relationship could be presentation by the Little Fireface found between habitat and loris densi- Project team, all I wanted to do was to ty. When capturing the Javan slow learn more about these interesting lorises to check if the collars were still . On the 7th of May I traded working properly, I took faecal sam- my life in Oxford for 11 weeks of ples to assess them for parasites. Java. I lived with Johanna in the re- I am back home now and enjoyed my search station and went out to see the lorises during the night. time working with the Little Fireface Project a lot. At the moment I am writ- I remember the first time I saw a loris. ing up my results. So far I can say that It was not the perfect setting as one of even though the area is very disturbed the villagers brought it to our research we encountered many of lorises. I station. He said he found it near his hope that the project will ensure a safe Marlies collecting vegetation house. The strength of this tiny animal future for them..” Marlies Albers data—note the agroforest! is something I will never forget. Even Pa ge 4 The Little Fireface Project Volume 1, Issue 3 Loris Awareness Week Highlights! The Little Fireface Project Volume 1, Issue 3 Pa ge 5 Troubles in Thailand

Clearly a lucrative market for wildlife as photo–prop animals in Phuket’s crowded tourist areas exists. For dec- ades thousands of tourists every year descend onto this tropical island to enjoy a holiday in the sun and part of the experience often includes holiday snaps with local exotic wildlife. Tour- ists are either unaware or unwilling to acknowledge the fact that these ani- mals are most often Endangered in the wild and that they are inevitably wild-caught for this sad trade.

There is absolutely no reason to pay the “owner” money in order for him to afford feeding his pet, as these ani- mal handlers often claim to lure soft- hearted tourists. No animal welfare concerns exist in this business. The in cute little clothes and portrayed as any- den influx of captive lorises in Phuket, animals are often drugged or mutilated thing but the wild, nocturnal, animals they authorities have a lot of catching up to in order to be safe to handle and once are. And tourists appear to be falling for do. Confiscations do not work as long mature, too sick or otherwise unsuited their charm. There is no shortage of pay- as the punishment for offenders is so for the job, they are discarded or ing customers for these photo shoots, as minuscule that they can pay their fine locked in small cages to wither away. am I able to conclude on my most recent and return to the streets with new ani- Rescue centres may receive some of visit to Patong on the 10 th of September. mals within a week or two. Reporting these animals after confiscations by Within a few hours in a single afternoon the offenders currently forces authori- authorities, but rehabilitation is often we were able to identify nine individual ties to confiscate, which will only lead made difficult by contagious diseases lorises, belonging to several different sub- to even more lorises arriving here and and physical and psychological dam- species of Nycticebus bengalensis . suffering short, tragic lives. Currently age to the animals caused by their no appropriate local rehabilitation cen- traumatic time with humans. Phuket island does have a native popula- tre exists with the capacity to house the tion of slow lorises, but no studies have large number of confiscated animals. Barely has the trade in baby gibbons been conducted here and since the island here on Phuket trickled out, thanks at falls within a crossover zone between two The root of the problem are the paying least partially to the collaboration be- species N. cougang and N. bengalensis , it is as western tourists to Phuket who do not tween the local Thai Forestry Depart- yet unknown which one is native here, or have a clue as to their own involvement ment and the Gibbon Rehabilitation whether Phuket actually is a natural hy- in bringing an threatened species closer Project (GRP), before the next new bridization zone between the two. What is to the brink of extinction when they pay thing is here: the slow loris. clear, is that many lorises exhibited for for a holiday photo. Educating western tourist photos in Patong have certainly tourists here thus becomes the key in been wild-caught elsewhere in Asia and GRP has been keeping a record of saving the slow loris from this new cru- smuggled onto Phuket to make money el fate that is threatening their survival. gibbons and other wildlife used for from tourists. Experts advise strongly entertainment around the island for against “hard releases” of captive slow Petra Osterberg many years now and 2012 has been lorises, as reintroductions of this the year when the lorises took over. are extremely complicated. Further, it is From reports of a single loris spotted strictly against international guidelines to in Patong at the beginning of this year, release non-native species into areas by September we are receiving daily where they do not belong. reports of up to 10 -15 slow lorises being paraded around in broad day- light. Many individuals are dressed up To deal with this new problem and sud-

The Lile Fireface Project, named so aer the Javanese word The Nightwatch for loris, aims to save these primates from exncon through learning more about their ecology and using this informaon to educate local people and law enforcement officers, leading ulmately to empowerment and empathy whereby people in Oxford Brookes University countries where lorises exist will want to save them for them- Nocturnal Primate Research Group selves. This is done through educaon, media, workshops and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences connecng classrooms programmes. Our educaon does not Oxford OX3 0BP UNITED KINGDOM stop in range countries, but also reaches out to potenal western purchasers of loris pets. Phone: ++44 1865 483767 E-mail: [email protected] So many kind individuals and groups have supported us fi- nancially since June –THANK YOU ! This has been vital for our research. We thank the following for financial support (in order received): Internaonal Primate Protecon League, ZGAP, Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, and Quantum Conserva- We’re on the web! www.nocturama.org on. And thanks to Camille Coudrat and Lois Sadler for all Follow us on Twitter! @queenfireface their wonderful artwork, and to Davina Behin Jones and Ali- son Tew for their cras for Loris Awareness Week. @littlefireface Your donations will help our fight to save lorises—visit us: Saving the slow loris through ecology, http://www.brookes.ac.uk/about/news/slowloris/donate education and empowerment

Help save the loris through visiting our New Shop (see right)!:

http://www.nocturama.org/help- the-loris/little-fireface-shop/

What is the secret of loris venom? Since I first started getting tion, one giant leap for the thoughts, including protec- involved with the Little slow loris. I hope to have tion from predators if there FireFace project, I have tried many more victories to share are any (maybe some undis- raising awareness about the with all of you reading this in covered predator). Many plight of these beautiful crea- the future. In other news, I other animals including tures. When I was doing ICT finally managed to watch the toads and insects have in college, I showed one of Jungle Gremlins of Java the other evolved similar self-defence the English teachers my arti- day on my computer. It really mechanisms. How many cle in the second issue of the hits home to how we as hu- predators are there in Java? Little FireFace project news- mans treat animals for money. If the venom is to ward off letter. That article is now be- It is interesting to see the predators, the can’t ing used in her classes to be many theories about what be the only predator in the used for their learning. That is uses the loris venom has in Javan . one small step for conserva- the natural world. I have my Connor J. Wyton A slow loris venom game—I’m a stinky loris! Loris are solitary animals like sweaty socks!). They then more authenc, you can so don’t like other loris hiss to scare lorises (or predators) even wear smelly socks over being too close. When away! your hands to mimic the loris threatened, lorises push You and your friends can have smell -the smellier the their hands over their head fun pretending to be loris; print beer! (like in a brace posion) out and wear the loris face You could even play some with their wrists over their masks, then go around hissing at fun jungle background music forehead to expose their your other loris friends to tell to really set the scene. snky glands (that smell them to stay away. To make it Go East Loris Project