Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2025 | 17(4): 26898–26902
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9831.17.4.26898-26902
#9831 | Received 27 November 2024 | Final received 17 February 2025 |
Finally accepted 09 April 2025
New record of Mysore Slender
Loris Loris lydekkerianus
near Puducherry, India
Shanmugam Mani 1, P.
Aravind Aathi 2 , K. Sivakumar 3,
Aurosylle Bystrom
4 & D. Saravanan 5
1,4 Pitchandikulam Forest, Auroville,
Tamil Nadu 605101, India.
2 No. 3, 8th Cross Street, Samipillaithottam, Lawspet,
Puducherry 605008, India.
3 Department of Ecology and
Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, Puducherry 605014, India.
5 Aranya Forest and Sanctuary, Auroville, Tamil Nadu 605101, India.
1 manitrees@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 aravindac0@gmail.com, 3 ksivakumar@pondiuni.ac.in,
4 aurosylleb@gmail.com,
Editor: Honnavalli N. Kumara, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural
History, Coimbatore, India. Date of publication: 26 April 2025
(online & print)
Citation: Mani,
S., P.A. Aathi, K. Sivakumar, A. Bystrom
& D. Saravanan (2025). New record of Mysore Slender Loris Loris lydekkerianus near
Puducherry, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 17(4): 26898–26902. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9831.17.4.26898-26902
Copyright: © Mani et al. 2025. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Zooreach Conservation Seed Grant (24ZCSG06M).
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: We thank our dedicated volunteers: B.N. Achyutha, Anuvrinda Sharma, Aritra Bhattacharya, Kosturi Sen, Rajashree Sain, K. Sidharth, A.P. Kiran, M.C. Vayshak and Nivan Shanmugam (11 year old) for their help and support.
Abstract: The Mysore Slender Loris Loris lydekkerianus,
a nocturnal and ‘Near Threatened’ primate, is found in the Eastern Ghats and
eastern foothills of the southern Western Ghats; mainly occurs in dry
deciduous, and scrub forests with high tree density areas. Three individuals of
loris were sighted in the upper canopy of Pterocarpus
santalinus and Acacia auriculiformis
trees in the planted forest patches near Puducherry, southern India, during
September and October in 2024. All three lorises were located within a 300-m
radius, with inter-individual distances of 270–500 m. This was the first
sighting of slender lorises near Puducherry. This observation reiterates the
importance of continuous monitoring to better understand the recovery of
biodiversity in the restored forests and its significance in conserving
threatened native species such as the slender loris.
Keywords: Aranya
forest, Auroville, density estimation, endangered
species, nocturnal primate, primate conservation, restored
forests.
Slender lorises are one of the
two genera of nocturnal primates (genus Loris) that inhabit India
and Sri Lanka (Nekaris 2001). Slender lorises
are confined to India and Sri Lanka, where they inhabit moist to dry and
lowland to montane forests (Singh et al. 2021). Three species of slender
lorises are found in South Asia: the Mysore Slender Loris Loris lydekkerianus found in southern India and
Sri Lanka, the Malabar Slender Loris Loris malabaricus, and the Red Slender Loris Loris tardigradus, found
only in Sri Lanka (Groves 2001; Teja et al.
2023). The Mysore Slender Loris is a cryptic, solitary, and nocturnal
primate, found in the dry deciduous and scrub forests of the Eastern Ghats, and
southern Western Ghats (Singh et al. 1999, 2000; Molur
et al. 2003; Radhakrishna et al. 2011; Teja et al.
2023).
In southern India, the highest
number of loris sightings occur in dry deciduous forests, followed by moist
deciduous forests, evergreen forests, and restored forests (Singh et al. 1999,
2000; Kumara et al. 2006; Radhakrishna et al. 2011; Kumara & Sasi 2014; Kumara
et al. 2016 ). The variation in habitat preferences between regions highlights
the slender loris’ adaptability to different environments. The slender loris is
primarily insectivorous, detecting prey mainly through vision, and smell. It
uses acrobatic postures to catch insects like ants and termites, typically with
one or two hands. It rarely drinks water, possibly obtaining hydration or
detoxifying ants through fruit pods, and prefers terminal branches for foraging
(Nekaris 2000, 2002, 2005; Radhakrishna & Singh
2002).
The Mysore Slender Loris and Malabar
Slender Loris are both classified as ‘Near Threatened’ (Kumara
et al. 2022a,b) and listed in the Schedule I of the
Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022. Hunting and trading of lorises or
their parts are prohibited in India (Gnanaolivu et
al. 2022). Major threats to its survival include habitat loss, fragmentation,
poaching, and trapping for traditional medicine and biomedical research (Kumara et al. 2006). These factors are expected to cause
further decline in loris populations (Molur et al.
2003). Slender loris conservation prospects are positive in certain regions due
to the absence of human-loris interactions, as lorises don’t compete with
humans for resources. Additionally, cultivated areas with fences & roadside
trees can serve as essential corridors for lorises that link fragmented forest
patches (Singh et al. 1999). These factors offer potential for supporting loris
populations. Therefore, the study aims to assess the distribution, and
population density of slender loris in various restored forest patches near
Puducherry region, evaluate habitat conditions, and identify threats to inform
conservation strategies and management plans for this threatened species.
Methods
Study area
A survey on Mysore Slender Loris
was conducted in the Aranya Forest and Sanctuary
(11.573 0N, 79.460 0E), a restored man-made forest
located in the west of the Villupuram District border between Tamil Nadu and
Puducherry (Image 1). It spans 100 acres, 60% of which is managed by the Auroville Foundation, while the rest comprises previously
barren, unused land. It is located 8 km north-west of Puducherry city and 2 km
east of Puducherry’s Ossudu Lake Bird Sanctuary. This
forest habitat supports nearly 400 indigenous plant species, 240 bird species,
including the Indian Eagle Owl Bubo bengalensis,
and 54 butterfly species (D. Saravanan per. comm.). It is home to rare mammals
such as Indian Crested Porcupines, Jungle Cats, Golden Jackals, Small Indian
Civets, Palm Civets, and monitor lizards. Deep ravines and several seasonal
streams mark the terrain.
The climate shows a mean annual temperature of 29.5 °C and an average
annual rainfall of 1,200 mm. Monthly temperatures range 25–--34 °C. The region
experiences a tropical asymmetric climate, with most rainfall occurring during
the north-east monsoon (October–December). In the Aranya
Forest, the upper storey consists of tree species
such as Pterocarpus santalinus,
Hardwickia binata,
Acacia auriculiformis, Pterospermum
canescens, Garcinia spicata,
Lannea coromandelica,
Chloroxylon swietenia,
and Pongamia pinnata.
The middle storey features species like Lepisanthes tetraphylla,
Drypetes sepiaria,
Psydrax dicoccos,
Tricalysia sphaerocarpa,
Diospyros ebenum, and Albizia
amara. The understorey
is dominated by Memecylon umbellatum and Glycosmis pentaphylla.
Field survey
Surveys were conducted for loris
on the extent of forest cover in the restored forests of the Auroville Bioregion. Depending on accessibility and terrain
topography, foot transects were employed following the method described by
Singh et al. (1999). We used all existing natural trails and roads for
surveying loris. Night surveys were conducted between 1900 h and 2200 h with a
team comprising 4–5 people walking at an average speed of 1.5 km/h along each
side of the trails in September–October 2024. Flashlights and headlamps were
used to detect the characteristic orange-red eye shine of the slender loris,
which is visible from over 100 m and serves as a reliable indicator of their
presence (Singh et al. 1999, 2000). The species was confirmed when individuals
were visually sighted; vocalizations alone were not considered sufficient
evidence. For each detection, the time of sighting, host tree species, and the
number of individuals were recorded.
Results And
Discussion
Over eight nights and a total of
24 hours of observations, we recorded sightings of three individuals of the
Mysore Slender Lorises within the Aranya Forest and
Sanctuary (Table 1). The first individual loris was observed in a Pterocarpus santalinus
tree at an average height of 15 m, positioned within the terminal branches
(Image 2). The loris was observed feeding, although the prey could not be
identified due to rain, which limited visibility during the 20-minute
observation from a distance of approximately 20 m. The individual appeared
calm, displaying active behaviour with no signs of
distress or aggression. The loris was observed detecting the prey visually,
capturing it with acrobatic suspensory postures, and grasping it with one or
both hands rather than directly with the mouth as similar to the observations
of Nekaris (2001).
On a subsequent survey, we found
two more individuals at a distance of 270 m interval. The second individual was
located at an average height of 8 m in the terminal branches of a Pterocarpus santalinus
tree that was sighted from a distance of 60 m. This individual exhibited
quadrupedal locomotion with rapid movements along the terminal twigs, probably
looking for prey. On the same night, the third individual was observed at a
height of 8 m in an Acacia auriculiformis tree
(Image 3). All lorises were observed on the terminal branches and twigs of
large trees, where they frequently gathered ants or termites directly from the
branches, appearing to rely primarily on sight, and smell for detecting prey (Nekaris & Rasmussen 2003). The richness of tree species
emerged as a major factor in loris occupancy and abundance, as anthropogenic
impacts tend to create secondary forests with higher species diversity,
enhancing loris habitats (Morris 2010).
All three individuals were
located within a 300-m radius, with inter-individual distances ranging 270–500
m, resulting in an average encounter rate of one individual/500 m walk. Most of
the slender loris populations in Tamil Nadu were reported from the
south-central districts, typically found at altitudes below 300 m, with some
reaching up to 1,257 m (Singh et al. 2021). Singh et al. (1999) documented four
individuals within a 50-m range in Dindigul, Tamil
Nadu. However, abundance patterns of loris varied spatially, as south-central
Tamil Nadu shows high slender loris population densities (2.21–0.75 /km), while
densities in north-central, and western Tamil Nadu ranged 0.90–0.03 /km and
0.25–0.01 /km, respectively (Kumara et al. 2016).
According to the slender loris occurrence
recorded from 22 districts of Tamil Nadu (Kumara
& Sasi 2014), the mean relative abundance of
lorises varied between 0.03 /km and 2.21 /km. Of the 22 districts, three
individuals were recorded in Villupuram District (one individual from Tirukoilur-Rishivandiyam reserve forest and two from Tirukoilur-Tandarpattu reserve forest). Whereas the present
study site of the Aranya Forest and Sanctuary that is
also located in the same Villupuram District but near Puducherry is reported
for the first time with three individuals of Mysore Slender Loris, which is 65
km away from the previous sightings of loris, and there is no forest
connectivity between Aranya Forests and Tirukoilur Reserve Forest. Though calls have been heard,
there are no direct sightings recorded from the other restored forests of Auroville including Pitchandikulam,
southern forests (Newland, Success, Forecomers, Ravena), and Auroville Botanical
Garden. More surveys are required to confirm the occurrence of Mysore Slender
Loris in the other restored forests of Auroville
region.
Conclusions
First time observations of three
Mysore Slender Lorises near Puducherry in the restored forests of Auroville, provides valuable data on their distribution
range, and habitat use in the restored forests.
Continued monitoring is essential to gain a deeper understanding of
their habitat use, behavioural ecology, food habits,
and movement patterns of this species within both the Aranya
Forest and Sanctuary, and other restored forests in Auroville.
This study reveals that the restored forests can accommodate threatened species
provided better management and protection.
Table 1. Observations of Mysore Slender Loris Loris
lyddekerianus in the Aranya
Forest and Sanctuary near Puducherry.
|
Date and time |
Location |
Host tree |
Remarks |
|
20.ix.2024 at 1950 h |
11.574 N & 79.461 E; 75 m |
Pterocarpus santalinus (Image 2) |
Sighted at a height of 15 m
with active behaviour, climbing up and down on the
terminal branches. No agonistic behaviour was
observed. |
|
21.x.2024 at 1735 h |
11.575 N & 79.463 E; 67 m |
Pterocarpus santalinus |
Sighted at a height of 8 m with
active behaviour and quadrupedal rapid walk on the
terminal twigs. Unable to take clear photos. |
|
21.x.2024 at 2050 h |
11.574 N & 79.455 E; 57 m |
Acacia auriculiformis
(Image 3) |
Sighted at a height of 8 m with
active behaviour, quadrupedal running, and climbing
up and down on the terminal twigs. No agonistic behaviour
was observed. |
For
images - - click here for full PDF
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