Slender loris gets a sanctuary in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday notified 11,806 hectares of forest area in Dindigul and Karur districts as a sanctuary for the endangered 'slender loris', an insectivorous and nocturnal primate.
The Kadavur Slender Loris Sanctuary will be the first such facility for the animal in the country.

The move will not only protect the habitat but also help curb poaching of slender loris, which is an endangered species as per the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
State forest and environment secretary Supriya Sahu said three taluks in Dindigul and one in Karur have been merged to form the sanctuary. In Dindigul district, the taluks are Vedasandur, Dindigul east and Natham and in Karur, it's Kadavur taluk. While in Dindigul four reserve forests - Pannamalai, Thanneerkaradu, Thopa Swamimalai and Mudimalai - have been merged, in Karur district, parts of 11 reserve forests and Palaviduthi and Sembiyanatham reserved forests have been added. In Dindigul district, 6,106 hectares and in Karur 5,700 hectares of forest land will be added to create the sanctuary, she said. Sahu said the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (Sacon), Coimbatore, was entrusted with conducting a study. The study found that originally these mammals were found in Trichy, Dindigul, Karur, Pudukottai and Sivaganga districts. However, habitat loss and other factors forced these nocturnal animals to confine themselves to the forests of Dindigul and Karur, the study said.
Slender lorises spend most of their life on trees. Lorises need a connected forest and canopy trees to survive as they crawl over branches.
During the study period, the research team from the Sacon covered 374.1km in which transect lines were drawn in 13 different reserve forests for estimating the slender loris population. The team recorded 1,176 lorises in the reserve forests. These mammals are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
A detailed study is crucial for habitat management of the animal, it said. Thoppaswamimalai reserved forest in Dindigul and Mullipadi reserved forest in Karur district are the two locations in which the largest population of lorises were recorded. They were also present in Chinnayampatti, Pannamalai and Vaiyamalaipalayam reserve forests , Sahu said. The nocturnal house in Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, is home to two slender lorises.
Slender loris gets a sanctuary in TN | page 1