SLENDER LORIS

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Context: Tamil Nadu notifies India's first Slender Loris sanctuary.

Details:

About the species:

• The Slender Lorises (Loris) are a genus of lorisnative to India and Sri Lanka.
• The genus comprises two species - the red Slender Loris found in Sri Lanka and the gray Slender Loris from Sri Lanka and India.
• It is listed as an endangered speciesby the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and protected under Schedule 1 of the Indian legislation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972.
• Slender Loris has a wide range of ecological roles to play in the terrestrial ecosystem. The species acts as a biological predator of pests in agricultural crops and benefits farmers.
• These small nocturnal mammals (active during the night and sleeping during the day) are arboreal in nature as they spend most of their life on trees.

Location:

• They are found in tropical rainforests, scrub forests, semi-deciduous forests and swamps.
• In India, the animal is largely found in the Eastern Ghats of the Karur and Dindigul Forest Divisions.
• According to a census taken in 2016-17 by the Forest Department, the Kadavur Reserve Forest has a population of 3,500 Slender Loris, which is estimated to be around 5,000 currently.

Major threats:

• Since it faced major threats such as habitat loss, hunting for the pet trade and road kills, the official felt the need for enhanced protection through a sanctuary.

About the Kadavur Slender Loris sanctuary:

• Recognizing the need for immediate conservation of Slender Loris species, the State government designated 11,800 hectares of forest as important habitats for the Kadavur Slender Loris sanctuary.
• This will cover Vedasandur, Dindigul East and Natham taluks in Dindigul district and Kadavur taluk in Karur district of TN.
• The entire forest in the taluks has been classified as a reserve forest and considered a hotspot in the State for Slender Loris.
• The medium to high temperature in the hill, which has an elevation of about 1,200 m above sea level is attributed to the growth of Slender Loris.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tamil-nadu-government-notifies-indias-first-slender-loris-sanctuary-at-kadavur/article66000494.ece