The Loris Lives! First Pictures of Primate Thought To Be Extinct

[n2doc]

By Jess McNally July 19, 2010


This cute furry primate is the first of its species to ever be photographed.

The Horton Plains slender loris (Loris tardigradus nycticeboides) was thought to be extinct. Between 1939 and 2002, no one spotted the animal. In 2002 someone reported a possible sighting, but didn’t get any pictures.

The 2002 report inspired the Zoological Society of London and a team of Sri Lankan researchers to launch an effort to find the 8-inch-long primate.

After 200 hours of searching, they captured the first ever pictures of the creature, which were released Monday.

“The discovery improves our knowledge of this species, but we need to focus our efforts on the conservation and restoration of the remaining montane forest where this species still exists,” conservation biologist Dr. Craig Turner of the Zoological Society of London said in a press release. “Currently this accounts for less than 1 percent of the land area of Sri Lanka.”



Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/07/horton-plains-slender-loris-lives/

[xchrom]

1. ...

:applause:

[Dogtown]

2. Excellent!

Very pretty creature, also!

[NV Whino]

3. Wonderful!

May they live long and prosper.

[zazen]

4. she's only 8 inches long?! that's cuteness beyond description

[racaulk]

5. Beautiful!

:applause:

[InvisibleTouch]

6. Good news! n/t

[nashville_brook]

7. so cool! -- here's a weird Loris factoid...

Female lorises practice infant parking, leaving their young infants behind in nests. Before they do this they bathe their young with allergenic saliva that is acquired by licking patches on the insides of their elbows that produce a mild toxin that discourages most predators.

[supernova]

8. Aww, cutie!

Great job little loris.

:D

[Ignis]

9. I'm a big fan of the Slow Loris.

But this is almost as adorable. :D

[Judi Lynn]

10. There's a lot to be said for the Slow Loris, of course!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com.nyud.net:8090/2025/2490615777_8a82807f90.jpg

http://www.indonesiatraveling.com.nyud.net:8090/National%20Parks%20Indonesia/images/animal_protection/slow-loris-01.jpg http://www.newinfo2day.com.nyud.net:8090/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/slow-loris.jpg

[Ignis]

11. A Thai friend of mine works with WARF to help lorises.

http://www.warthai.org/product.php?id=7
http://www.loris-conservation.org/

[Judi Lynn]

12. Hope WARF will be totally successful. So much help is needed, unfortunately. Great links. Thanx. n/t

[Ignis]

15. Thanks! They can use all the help they can get.

One of the biggest problems for lorises in SE Asia is that their body parts (eyeballs, elbows, etc.) are used in TCM and related "medical" treatments. As you can imagine, this has led to real challenges in conservation. :(

[Wilms]

13. I thought you meant Lorax.

[applegrove]

14. Awwwe. So cute.