Slow Lorises: The Shy Ones

We are nocturnal and spend most of our time in the trees. We walk on all four limbs, slowly and silently. If we are spotted, we hide our face under our arms or stay still like a statue on the branches. That's why the Indonesian people named us malu malu, or the shy ones. The most prominent feature of us slow lorises is our big round eyes that point forward, providing excellent binocular vision and depth perception. We also have an excellent sense of smell. We are the only venomous primate in the world. We are predominantly solitary. In other words, we like our company. We have “grooming claws” to comb our dense fur and our loved ones. Like other animals, grooming is a way we interact with one another. We emit different sounds and each one has its own meaning. We slow lorises are on the brink of extinction due to the illegal pet trade and habitat loss. I would like to ask you this: please do not take us out of the wilderness, and please help protect us and save our beautiful home.