ANIMAL CURIOSITIES
Slow loris, the sweet-eyed little primate hiding a deadly defensive weapon
Welcome to the photo gallery dedicated to the slow loris, one of the most charismatic and fascinating primates on our planet.
With its big soft eyes and slow gait, the slow loris appears to be a peaceful and defenseless creature.
But behind this image lies an amazing defensive weapon, making it one of the most feared nocturnal predators in the rainforest. In this photo gallery, you will have a chance to admire the beauty and elegance of these animals up close, and discover all the secrets of their deadly weapon.
We invite you to explore this wonderful photo gallery and appreciate the extraordinary nature of the slow loris.
Slow loris, the small, soft-eyed primate who hides a deadly defensive weapon
With its large soft eyes and slow gait, the slow loris appears to be a peaceful and defenseless creature. But behind this image lies an amazing weapon of defense. In this photo gallery, you will have a chance to admire the beauty and elegance of these animals up close and discover all the secrets of their deadly weapon. (Pictured: slow loris of Java, Nycticebus javanicus)
Di Silke Hahn at de.wikipedia - Fotografia autoprodotta, Pubblico dominio, https://commons.wikimedia
A cute nocturnal primate
The slow loris is a small nocturnal primate that lives in different regions of Asia. These animals are characterized by their slow movement and friendly, curious appearance, but also by their vulnerability to predators and destruction of their habitat. Despite this, this species hides an unexpected defense weapon.
Species
Slow loris (Nycticebus) belongs to a genus of strepsirrhine primates in the Lorisidi family. The genus includes eight species known as Slow Lori .
Characteristics and habitat
The slow loris is an arboreal animal that lives mainly in tropical and subtropical forests, but is also found in other forested areas such as bamboo forests. These primates have a predominantly insectivorous diet, which includes beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, moths, and other small invertebrates that they catch with their long, sticky tongues.
Di David Haring / Duke Lemur Center - email, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php
Here's how it defends itself
The slow loris is a shy and peaceful animal that usually defends itself against predators by emitting a strong odour, hissing or emitting a toxic secretion from the glands under its arms. The venom is activated by combining oil from the brachial gland on the arm with saliva and can cause death in small mammals and anaphylactic shock and death in humans. (source: Mad, bad and dangerous to know: the biochemistry, ecology and evolution of slow loris venom' published in the Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases). However, this defence strategy may not be sufficient against larger predators such as snakes or birds of prey. (in photo: The pygmy slow loris, Nycticebus pygmaeus)
Di Helena Snyder - email, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12616339
Extinction risk
The slow loris is threatened with extinction due to the loss of its natural habitat and the pet trade. These primates are often captured to be sold as pets, but they are poorly adapted to domestic life and often die prematurely due to stress, disease and malnutrition. To protect loris lento, local and international conservation measures are needed. There are ongoing research projects to better understand the biology and ecology of these primates, as well as education and outreach programs to reduce illegal trade and promote tropical forest conservation. (Pictured is Bengal's slow loris, Nycticebus bengalensis)
Ferocious animals
28/04/2024
Anyone who is used to wandering in the woods and mountains knows that encountering a wild bear is a very unlikely experience. Bears are often frightened of humans and do not approach them, but if this should happen, what should one do?
Recently, in Italy, a boy unfortunately died as a result of a wild bear attack, but this is a rather rare and dramatic event. In any case, one can never be too careful, and it could be very helpful to know what to do in the event of an encounter with a bear, especially if you are out and about alone.
The US government has long since issued general guidelines on how to behave and how to react in the event of a close encounter with this huge animal, which is often just curious, but sometimes also very dangerous if certain rules are not followed.