In search of the elusive slender loris

It was about a decade ago. Dusk was setting in, we were wrapping up our course on field ecology near Gubbi, Tumakuru district in a farm setting. As we packed and headed out, Vidisha Kulkarni, one of the instructors, now with Dakshin Foundation, heard a familiar call, a loud, eerie whistle. She quickly grabbed a torch and aimed it at the bamboo patch that lay across the tank bund. Voila! A pair of shining eyes greeted her. “Loris!” she exclaimed. All of us ran towards her and were witnesses to the sighting of the loris. This was the first such sighting for all of us near Gubbi.

It did not take too long for me to discover reports that the gray slender loris had been sighted around. Notably, Gundappa B V, a conservationist and now a retired government schoolteacher in Tumakuru, has been researching them. As a high school teacher at the Government High School in Nagavalli and later as headmaster at the Government Junior College at Chandrashekharapura, Gubbi, he had motivated and mobilised his students to appreciate the slender loris.

The gray slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus), a nocturnal primate, is found in south-interior Karnataka, as well as in parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. It is a very shy social mammal. As nocturnal animals, lorises have evolved to see things under low light, and are also equipped with stereoscopic vision. They have slender legs, after which they get their common name and are less than one foot (about 10 inches) in length.

Lorises typically move in groups through tree canopies. They rarely come to the ground unless forced to cross over a road or such without a tree canopy. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, they are classified as ‘near threatened’. In India, they are listed in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 — the highest protection status under Indian laws. In Kannada, the loris is called ‘kaadu paapa’, literally meaning ‘child of the forest’.

They are known to have evolved earlier than the monkeys (such as the bonnet macaques), which are also found in the area. Their calls are characteristically unique, loud and whistle-like. They are omnivorous and feed on fruits, berries, insects, mice, frogs, lizards and the like. Lorises play a critical role in maintaining the trophic balance in the ecosystems.

Documentation efforts

Gundappa recounts that when lorises were initially noticed during the 1990s, many researchers and conservationists came forward to study and document them. Notably, Prof Mewa Singh from the University of Mysore undertook one of the first attempts to study them. They undertook late-night surveys to estimate the population in the region.

Gundappa says that it was Prof Sindhu Radhakrishna with the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), who trained them on how to look for lorises at night in the 90s. Subsequently, S Karthikeyan, now chief naturalist with the Jungle Lodges and Resorts, also documented lorises and conducted awareness about them. These efforts aided them in devising specific programmes to raise awareness among citizens and students, in particular, about the species.

Scattered distribution

The gray slender loris has been found in and around select patches across Tumakuru district.

“If you are lucky, you can see them right from the foothills of Devarayana Durga and southwards towards Kunigal road. One can also find them in thick tree canopies around farms in Chandrashekharapura, Bidare, G Hosahalli, and a few more localities near Gubbi,” says Gundappa.

Beyond Gubbi and parts of Tumakuru, they are also reported in parts of Tiptur and Turuvekere. At Turuvekere, another local conservationist, Nagesh, has been studying them. There have been reported sightings of the loris around the foothills of Nandi hills, parts of Chikkaballapura and the bordering districts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. While they have been known to be around, systematic studies and monitoring have not been carried out for a variety of reasons. About a decade ago, we at Gubbi Labs became part of the Urban Slender Loris Project in Bengaluru, in collaboration with others.

Vidisha was coordinating the effort. It resulted in coming up with an initial assessment of where lorises are found in the urban jungle of Bengaluru.

Habitat in peril

These cute little creatures are now facing a critical challenge threatening their survival: Habitat loss. In addition, they are also known to be subjected to poaching due to superstitions and their use in black magic, and are also taken as pets, says Gundappa. It is critical to raise awareness that the handling of a scheduled species by non-designated persons is a violation of the law.

The change of land use to commercial plantations has resulted in the destruction of trees that offered a continuous canopy to this species. Consequently, the lorises are now being restricted to certain patches. Thus, it becomes critical to study and systematically monitor them. “Understanding their distribution, movement, and overall habitat connectivity in landscapes is essential for ensuring their long-term survival,” says Vidisha.

In the outskirts of Tumakuru, towards Kunigal and near Nagavalli, is the site of the new campus of Tumakuru University. Some authorities have already occupied the campus, and the construction of new buildings and other infrastructure is underway.

Prior to this, Gundappa notes that his NGO, the Wildlife Aware Nature Club (WANC), submitted a report indicating the measures to be taken, considering the rich biodiversity it harboured, including the slender loris. Despite that, he laments that there is no visibility on what measures have been taken to protect them.

Some efforts have been made recently by filmmakers Sandesh Kadur and Diinesh Kumble, by way of short documentaries, to help raise awareness. These are in English and are available on YouTube. The documentary by Diinesh Kumble, ‘The cry of the paapa’, is also available in Kannada and Tamil. An important tool in raising awareness is material that can connect with farmers and large landowners, who are the key stakeholders in conservation efforts. 

Will we protect and take care of the ‘baby of the forest’? Only time will tell.