Sunda Slow Loris - Behavior and Ecology

Behavior and Ecology

Like other slow lorises, the Sunda slow loris is an arboreal and nocturnal primate, resting by day in the forks of trees, or in thick vegetation and feeding on fruit and insects by night. Unlike other loris species, it remains in trees most of its life: while the Bengal slow loris will often sleep on the ground, the Sunda slow loris sleeps in a ball in branches or foliage. It usually sleeps alone but has been observed to sleep with several conspecifics (individuals of the same species), including other adults. Adults live in overlapping ranges of 0.004 to 0.25 km2 (0.0015 to 0.097 sq mi).

Despite its slow metabolism rate, the Sunda slow loris has a high-energy diet. Its slow lifestyle may be due to the energy costs of detoxifying certain secondary plant compounds in many genera of food plants their diets. The largest amount of time is spent eating phloem sap (34.9%), floral nectar and nectar-producing plant parts (31.7%), and fruits (22.5%). It also consumes gums and arthropods such as spiders and insects. Gum is taken by licking wounds on trees. They are also known to feed on molluscs, including the giant land snail Achatina fulica, and birds' eggs.

All slow loris species produce a toxin in glands on the insides of their elbows. This is spread across their bodies and those of their offspring using the toothcomb while grooming. When threatened with predators, the Sunda slow loris can bite, roll into a ball exposing its toxic saliva-covered fur, or roll up and drop from the trees. However, the primary method of predator avoidance is crypsis, whereby it hides. The Asiatic reticulated python, the changeable hawk-eagle and the Bornean orangutan have been recorded as predators of the Sunda slow loris.