Bengal Slow Loris
Nycticebus bengalensis
A slow-motion exit
The Bengal slow loris isn’t one for getting scared and running away. If danger threatens, the animal plays it cool: it fixes its eyes on the enemy and slowly, very slowly, ascends the tree. Unlike us humans, a loris’ thumb and index finger are on the opposite side of the hand to
the rest of its fingers. This allows it to keep a strong, secure grip when climbing.
Characteristics
- Distribution
Southeast Asia: India to Thailand
- Diet
Fruits, insects, spiders, lizards, birds and small mammals
- Size
approx. 38 cm
- Weight
max. 2 kg
- Gestation period
188 bis 192 days
- Achievable age
up to 25 years in human care
Did you know that ...
...slow lorises are one of the world’s few venomous mammals?
...its bite becomes venomous when its saliva mixes with
a toxic secretion from glands on its arms?