Is the slow loris poisonous to humans? What are slow lorises? How long do Lori lemurs live?
Have you ever seen an alien who was mistakenly dropped on the wrong planet? If not, then you can look at the loris - an animal from South Asia. Because of their slow movements, they have long been considered sloths, but in fact they are prosimians, relatives of lemurs.
Name lemur loris translated as "clown". The touching face of this animal really looks like the makeup of a sad white clown: large eyes are surrounded by dark circles. The round body and full legs resemble a baggy clown suit.
Laurie lives in the crowns tall trees, where it finds shelter, food and protection from enemies, and almost never descends to the ground. They do not build any nests, and the young are born on any suitable branch. The animal is born with open eyes, covered with thick fur and immediately clings to the mother's fur. The first days she carries him on her stomach and feeds him with milk. He can also “travel”, clinging to the skin of his father or older brother, and his mother only takes him to feed him.
Lories are nocturnal animals. During the day they sleep sweetly, curled up into a ball. The feet hold the branch tightly, and the head is hidden between the “legs”. From the outside it looks like a motionless fluffy ball. To rest, they settle in a hollow, on a tree branch, or even better - in a convenient fork between the branches. And at night they go hunting (it is because of the nocturnal lifestyle that the loris has such large eyes compared to the body). U lemur loris very good hearing and in the silence of the night they can hear a subtle rustle. The animals are so careful that they move along the branches without shaking the leaves, freezing for a long time at the slightest danger.
Lorises eat small lizards, bird eggs, juicy leaves and fruits. But they won’t refuse strong-smelling centipedes either, poisonous insects, slow beetles and fluffy caterpillars - everything that is inedible for other animals.
After which they begin to put themselves in order. Lori is very clean! They have 5 toes on their front and hind legs - just like you and me. And the ring fingers of the “toes” even have nails, which they use for cosmetic purposes to comb their fur and pick out debris. Constantly licking and cleaning itself, tidying up its fur, like a cat, is the loris's favorite pastime.
The animal is very strong for its size. It is almost impossible to tear it off the branch. Even strong man can open one leg of a loris with only two hands. However, as soon as he lets go of this paw to grab the other, the first one with a swift movement grabs the branch again, and it is very difficult to tear it off.
Loris love to play with each other. The animals lightly nudge each other, grab a tree branch with their hind legs and hang upside down. They stretch their paws towards each other, hug and lightly bite each other. And they can have fun like this for half an hour. If relatives are nearby, they also cannot resist such fun, and soon the entire flock becomes involved in the game.
This is interesting
Surprisingly, this primate is poisonous! Hidden on the animal's elbows are serious weapons - glands with poison. In case of danger, the loris sucks out the deadly substance and mixes it with saliva. Then the animal's bite becomes fatal. But the animal rarely uses such a serious “weapon”.
Most people keep some kind of animal at home. Naturally, most often they turn out to be dogs or cats - nevertheless, they have been “cohabiting” with people for many centuries, although they have already lost (mostly) their utilitarian purpose. However, quite often people prefer to see something exotic in their apartment - even a crocodile in the bathroom (naturally, if you have two of them). In our opinion, these reptiles are not very suitable as a pet: neither cuddle, nor stroke, nor play. But those who purchase a loris will get a lot of pleasure from the new inhabitant of the apartment.
Not to be confused with lemurs!
The correct name for these animals is slow loris. This is not a dirty name, but a scientific one. Animals are often called lemurs, although this is not entirely correct, and for several reasons.
First of all, the origins of the animals are completely different: the slow loris lives in Bangladesh, Indonesia and northeast India. Lemurs are brought from Madagascar, and this is quite far from the place where the loriki live.
The slow loris visually does not have a tail. Of course, he has it. But it is so small that it hides in thick fur, so you can only find it by touch.
Animals also differ in size. The slow loris does not exceed 38 centimeters in size, and its small variety only grows to 18. Lemurs reach 45 cm, and taking into account the tail, up to 60.
Structural features
However, the genus of loris has five representatives, among which it is quite possible to choose a safe “life partner.”
How to choose the right one
If you don’t want to be upset by your pet’s short lifespan and constant illnesses, take a closer look at the animal before purchasing it. And most importantly - how and where the former owner keeps it. A spacious and well-kept cage is required, and there should be no odor coming from it. The slow loris itself does not smell at home, as in the wild, so only an uncleaned house can stink.
It is better to adopt an animal at the age of six months - this makes it easier for the animal to get used to new faces and surroundings. The coat should be even and smooth; Bald spots indicate that either the animal is sick or it was poorly and improperly fed. The same applies to teeth - a color other than white again indicates an unbalanced diet or errors in care. Cloudy eyes or drooping eyelids also indicate the animal’s ill health.
Whom to take - a boy or a girl - depends on you. If you decide to get a couple, be prepared for the fact that the animals will not become tame: they will have enough communication with each other. But if you first take one loris, and after some time - a spouse for him, then both will willingly spend time with people.
Who should choose a cat or a dog?
But it’s worth thinking about the animal itself. Choose a different animal if your children are under five years old. Kids do not yet perceive admonitions on the topic “he is in pain” or “he is resting.” And the loris has a very independent character, and he also does not understand persuasion. So your child could be seriously bitten, and your purchase risks getting sick from nervous tension.
Those who like to take pictures, and especially professional photographers, should also understand that this is not their animal - the slow loris. Its maintenance is not too difficult, but it does not allow frequent movement, and frequent photo flashes can blind the animal forever.
You can also show off your unusual animal only at home. If you carry it in your pocket for everyone to see, it won't last long. If you are annoyed by sounds during sleep, consider whether a lorik is right for you. Still, these are nocturnal animals, and their activity awakens at about eight in the evening. Some time later, the animal may learn some of your habits, but it will never become completely diurnal.
Food, home and domestication
As already mentioned, a cage for a loris is absolutely necessary. Moreover, it is quite large, with a tray into which you should not put filler - it is better to take old rags such as diapers. Cleaning will become much easier, and there will be no smell.
You should hang ropes and ropes in the cage, secure the branches so that the animal can climb all over it. You will need three feeders - under water, regular food and for vegetables or fruits. A house that can be made of fabric, suspended, or a wooden floor with a soft, warm bedding, will be very useful. You will also need a humidifier placed in the room. During the day, it is better to close the windows with curtains, since loris are sleeping at this time, and their eyes are very sensitive. And no drafts!
The food for these animals consists primarily of insects. In the summer, catch them yourself, in the winter you will have to buy (at least the same shrimps are well digestible, only they must be peeled, raw and not salted. Boiled ones will do chicken eggs, but not too often. Vegetables and fruits are presented in a wide assortment: pears, sour apples, grapes, bananas, mangoes, melons, cherries and watermelon, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and avocados - all warm, peeled, pitted and cut.
You need to accustom your acquisition to yourself slowly, patiently, but persistently. You cannot wake up the lorik, you cannot tear it away from the cage, but you must definitely release it into the wild so that it can explore the surroundings. These animals love to be scratched and touchingly raise their arms if they have not yet “combed” and you have stopped this wonderful procedure. Make sure that the animal does not crawl into any hole, especially if it is not yet smart - it may not understand how to get out of there and start crying.
In general, watching them is so interesting that you will forget about the TV. The main thing is to communicate with the loris more, so that he begins to trust you and willingly climbs into your arms or wanders around the apartment.
It is probably the most exotic pet of all possible in domestic apartments. This extraordinary creature captivates with its bizarre appearance, because any lover of domestic animals will be happy to hold such a soft fluffy ball with large expressive eyes.
However, few people think that living creatures are different, and keeping such an exotic animal as a lemur requires serious preparation. Today we will analyze Loriids as a taxon, understand their habits, character, and also go through the varieties.
In fact, to be very precise, the loris is not quite a lemur. These animals belong to the suborder of wet-nosed primates, and the Loriidae family itself has for some time now been included in a separate infraorder of Lorisiformes, on an equal footing in the world taxonomy with Lemuriformes. Here is a clarification for lovers of scientific accuracy.
However, the loris lemur has been a related taxon for so long that we will no longer focus our attention on this detail, and will sometimes call this primate in the old fashioned way a lemur. That's what we agreed on.
Habitat
is a pronounced endemic of its habitat.
The native home of this animal is the tropical forests of Southeast Asia; they live mainly in the countries of the Indochinese Peninsula, and some species can also live in India and on the island. Sri Lanka.
Most of the world population of these animals lives in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
Appearance
Well, there's a lot to talk about here. This ex-lemur is a real star of television screens, not to mention the attention that this funny animal attracts with its intricate appearance from a public unaccustomed to such exoticism.
This animal resembles a cross between a monkey, a sloth and a tarsier. Many people mistakenly believe that the loris is a prosimian. Other “experts” believe that lorises, as well as indris, tupai, tarsiers, arms and galagos are all representatives of the same family.
Yes, everyone except the tupaya is primate. However, they all have significant differences from each other, both external and behavioral. Although galagos are indeed extremely close to this animal in anatomy, as well as appearance. However, we digress.
So what does this little big-eyed primate look like? This is a small animal whose weight, as a rule, ranges from 250 g to 1.5 kg. depending on the variety. The colors of different types of these animals may also differ. But we will still give a generalized description.
This primate usually has a brownish-red coat color. It has very tenacious limbs adapted for climbing trees. The animal is helped in this by thin fingers, which are equipped with sharp claws. But there was no luck with the loris tail.
On the head of the animal there is a pair of small ears and a pair of very large eyes. The eyes of a loris are a separate matter. This is the same calling card of the species as the spectacled pattern of a cobra or the luxurious tail of a peacock.
The eyes of this primate are really very large, round, like 2 saucers. Moreover, there is a dark edging around them, forming glasses. This gives the animal a pitiful appearance, perhaps stimulating the desire to have such a charmer at home as a pet among lovers of cute exotics.
Well, the description of this little primate would be incomplete if we forgot to mention its very sharp teeth. This ex-lemur has needle-sharp teeth, which he uses when asserting his rights to territory or a female.
Varieties
The Loriidae family is not as diverse as other taxonomic groups of the primate order.
Today there are only 3 main types of Loriaceae, namely:
- Slender lorises.
- Slow loris.
- Small slow lorises.
The slender loris is the smallest of all. The length of its body is 16-22 cm, the tail is 5 cm, and its weight is only 250-300 g. This animal is no larger than a squirrel in size, but it is the same primate as its larger relatives. However, it is not smaller in size than other Loriids, this is a fact.
The habitat of these big-eyed babies is the evergreen tropical forests of India, as well as about. Sri Lanka.
This species has several subspecies. Namely, there are gray and red slender lorises. The gray subspecies has a characteristic ash color, while the red subspecies differs from other varieties in its reddish-beige color.
The small slow loris, or slow loris, as it is also called, will be larger in size than the slender loris. Their body length ranges from 18-25 cm, and their weight can reach 700 g.
This primate lives in bamboo and tropical forests Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. This slow loris leads the same nocturnal lifestyle as its other brothers. The small loris is beige in color over most of its body with a rufous rump. Otherwise, this dwarf loris differs little in general external features from other varieties.
The great slow loris is a real giant next to its fellow taxon. These big-eyed animals can reach 20-36 cm in length without a tail, and the weight of some individuals can be 1.2-1.5 kg.
The slow loris and, especially, the red slender loris can feel like dwarfs next to such a relative, being almost half the size of the largest representative of the family.
Such animals live in almost all countries of the Indochina Peninsula, as well as in Bangladesh, India and even in the western part of the Philippine Island.
If we do not say a bad word about other animals of this taxon regarding their behavior, then such a “monkey” can pose a danger to humans. When irritated, this primate uses its sharp teeth, which, moreover, are equipped with a kind of poison. Such is the poisonous loris, as it turns out.
This poisonous species has several subspecies. We will focus on just one. The Javan slow loris is notable because it is on the verge of extinction, including due to the capture of these animals for the purpose of selling them as pets.
Lifestyle and behavior
Now let's talk about the character traits of these animals, and also get acquainted with their way of life in wildlife.
All species and subspecies of this family, be it the Javan loris or the red slender loris, are endemic to the evergreen tropical forests of South and East Asia, as we have already said.
They prefer to live at heights, among the treetops. These primates practically do not descend to the ground at all. These are exclusively arboreal creatures, well adapted to the habitat that nature has assigned them.
In some ways, these animals resemble sloths. They are also slow and unhurried, never in a hurry.
To move along branches and tree trunks, these animals are equipped with very strong limbs, as well as tenacious toes. The owners of these animals know very well that removing a loris that has grabbed onto something is the most difficult task.
They are also exclusively nocturnal and twilight creatures, whose eyes are perfectly adapted for night vision and are not at all designed for daytime vigil.
In the light of day, as soon as it dawns, these animals hide in the dense foliage among the branches and go to bed. An excellent night light for these high-altitude climbers are hollow trees or abandoned bird nests, where it is quite possible to find a sleeping animal curled up.
With the onset of dusk, the animal wakes up, washes itself, and behaves actively, as they say. Further, when night darkness reigns over the forest, the animal goes in search of food.
The diet of this primate includes plant foods with some inclusions of protein foods. Regardless of the species, be it a large Javan loris or a smaller red slender loris, this animal happily eats all kinds of fruits, but does not disdain to feast on bird eggs, and can catch and eat a small lizard or even a bird.
This lemur's diet also includes insects, including poisonous caterpillars and beetles, as well as the resin of some trees.
Lemur loris at home
A domestic lemur is nonsense for a naturalist, but quite normal for a simple lover of glamorous exoticism. Let's say it right away and directly.
Despite the fact that primates different types, especially from the Loriaceae family, are often bought and kept at home; such a purchase cannot be called otherwise than inappropriate. Not to mention the moral component of the issue.
Of the hundreds of lovers, only a few have all the necessary knowledge of how to properly care for such a pet, and what the consequences of improper maintenance and handling of the toothy primate are for both the owner and the animal itself.
We have already mentioned more than once such a species as the Javan loris. This is not just one of the large varieties of its taxon, but a species officially classified by the world conservation community as an endangered animal species.
This endemic inhabitant of the island. Java has been subjected to barbaric human persecution for many years. After all, it was the Javan loris that for a long time was the same loris in a cage, imprisoned in captivity due to its attractive and funny appearance.
Which, together with the destruction of the habitat in its homeland, has now led to such a disastrous state of affairs for this species.
(Loris), And appearance The animals are quite consistent with their names. The largest is the fat Bengal loris ( Nycticebus bengalensis) - weighs more than two kilograms, and the smallest - the red slender loris - is only about 100 grams.
In India, loris are called “forest babies”, in Sumatra - “monkeys of the wind”, in Java - “moon-faced”. The "official" name for these animals, loris, comes from the old Dutch "loeris", meaning "clown". Since travelers who discovered the loris in 1770 compared it to a sloth for its leisurely movements, the adjective “slow” was assigned to the animal. To this day, representatives of the clan Nycticebus in English they are called "slow lorises".
Total to date in the subfamily Lorisinae There are 10 species. The closest relatives of the loris - potto and galago - live in Africa, while the lorises themselves are residents of Asia. For a long time, little was known about these creatures, but over the past decades, scientists have accumulated enough data to refute many of the rumors about lorises generated by traveler accounts and Aboriginal stories.
Observations of loris have shown that they are very active animals. The discoverers who compared loris to sloths described their behavior in daylight, but the loris' time comes at sunset. Thin lorises travel about a kilometer per night, thick ones - about five. The maximum recorded speed of loris movement is as much as 1.5 m/s! Lorises are designed to live in the canopy of trees - they are usually found at heights of up to 10 meters - and rarely end up on the ground. They cannot jump at all, but they climb excellently. The special structure of the spine allows the loris to make “snake-like” wave-like movements, and the mobility of the joints and the location of the thumbs at an angle to the rest allows it to grab surrounding branches. When lorises move in the treetops, they are able to stretch over an abyss, holding on to several branches at the same time. If they need to hang on a lonely branch, they feel uncomfortable and move slowly.
The loris diet consists of a variety of forest products. Slender lorises prefer insects or small vertebrates and only occasionally eat fruits and tree resin. Loris hunt, carefully observing the prey, and at the right moment they make a swift attack. Their touching large eyes help them in this: among the suborder of wet-nosed primates ( Strepsirrhines) in loris, the eye sockets are closest to each other - this allows for a large angle of stereoscopic vision.
Slow lorises, on the other hand, use their eyes mostly to search for plant food. The diet of the slow loris includes both flower nectar and fruits, but its basis is plant juice. In a few seconds, the slow loris is able to make a hole in a branch or trunk to get to the nectar, which can be enjoyed for almost an hour, tightly clinging to the trunk. To prevent anyone from feasting on the loris itself at this time, it acquired a camouflage coloration. Their tongue, the longest among primates, and a serrated hyoid plate (see Sublingua) can penetrate tree flowers different shapes. At the same time, neat animals not only do not harm the flowers, but also play the role of pollinators, carrying pollen on their faces.
Loris inhabit not only the tropics, but also areas with pronounced seasonality. For example, in northern Vietnam, temperatures in winter can drop to 5°C, food becomes scarcer, and it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain body temperature. Therefore, in especially difficult times, lorises prefer to hibernate. More recently, it was possible to show that the little loris ( Nycticebus pygmaeus) can fall into a multi-day (up to 62 hours, on average 43 hours) torpor, while the animal’s body temperature can drop from the usual 34°C to 11°C. Previously, the only primates that could hibernate were considered to be Madagascar lemurs.
Slow lorises are the only venomous primates. The poison is formed when the animal licks its elbow, mixing the secretions of the brachial, or brachial, gland with saliva. That is why, when there is fear and a sense of danger, the loris raises its elbows up. The mixture remains on the animal’s teeth, its bite becomes poisonous (in humans it can lead to anaphylactic shock and even death). A special structure of the teeth helps deliver the poison to its destination: the front teeth (fangs and incisors) of the loris are flattened and turned into a needle-sharp comb. Loris venom is multicomponent, its composition is species-specific and depends on the diet, which largely consists of poisonous plants. The sap of some trees that slow lorises feed on is deadly poisonous to humans, and lorises are immune to many toxins. Toxins from food can be included in the animal’s venom, thereby bringing it benefit instead of harm. The main component of loris venom is a protein from the secretoglobin family (see Secretoglobin), which are known only in mammals and are the main component of many substances secreted by them.
Galina Klink