Lemur great slow loris disease. Slow lorises: the price of tenderness is endless pain

One look at these huge, surprised and sad eyes is enough for most people to be touched and melt. This touching property of the loris is taken full advantage of by street photographers in Malaysia and Thailand, who will definitely try to persuade you not only to take a photo with the animal, but also to purchase it. However, this should not be done under any circumstances - you will not be able to take the loris out of the country on your own; this is prohibited and is punishable by heavy fines and even imprisonment.

In nature, lorises spend almost all their time in the trees, descending to the ground extremely rarely. During the day, these rather slow and timid animals mostly sleep in the forks of branches or hollows and begin to become active at dusk. Male lorises are loners, living within a certain territory, carefully marked, females with cubs long time live in families. Lorises are arboreal animals and cannot swim!

Lorises are omnivores: their diet includes insects and their larvae, bird eggs and chicks, small amphibians, various fruits and vegetables, young greens, and nectar.

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Some lorises chew the bark of trees and suck out the sap.

Pregnancy in loris lasts about 6 months, resulting in the birth of one, rarely two, cubs.

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Immediately after birth, the baby tightly clings to the fur on the mother’s chest and “rides” on it for up to 50 days. The female has two nipples on her chest; she feeds the cubs for up to 5 months. It is very difficult for lorises to live in captivity.

Lori should not be owned in families with small children. You should also not take risks and keep loris with other pets. If you have firmly decided to keep a loris at home, when purchasing, first of all you need to pay attention to the health of the animal - the absence of discharge from the nose and ears, the cleanliness of the anus, the condition of the fur, the activity of the animal. After purchase, it would be a good idea to check the lori’s stool for worm eggs and, if necessary, carry out deworming.

Since breeding lorises in captivity is problematic, most of the animals offered on the market are illegally imported into the country, so it is practically impossible to obtain any documents for the animal from the seller, or it will be an outright “fake”. It is very difficult to buy a “home-bred” baby. It is believed that loris cubs should stay with their mother for up to 10 months, but 2-3 month old babies are often sold. Any loris vaccinations are contraindicated. The cost of the animal can reach up to $1,700!

To keep a loris, you will need a fairly spacious enclosure with a reliable lock that the animal cannot open. Many owners prefer to keep lorises in spacious terrariums: this provides their own microclimate, the absence of drafts and eliminates the risk of injury to the animal’s paws stuck between the bars. The loris cage should not be placed in a draft, in direct sunlight or near heating appliances.

A cage for a loris must have horizontally and vertically reinforced branches, not very thick, so that it is convenient for the animal to cling to them.

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You can also hang several vine ropes - lorises love to swing on them. Take care too: it is better to place it on a higher horizontal shelf, so the animal will feel safe. There should always be water in the bowl; it needs to be changed several times a day. But lorises are not litter trained, so the floor in the cage will have to be covered with sawdust from fruit trees or corn filler and replaced as needed.

Unfortunately, lorises are quite primitive: they do not respond to a name and will not play with you, do not follow commands and are not trained. But they are distinguished by their low “gnawiness” and do not test the cage bars or wires while walking. However, it is impossible to leave a loris in an apartment unattended - it can chew poisonous houseplants or get confused somewhere, climb into a hard-to-reach place, or fall off somewhere. At the same time, tame lorises love to sleep on their owner’s arms, shoulders, and even on their heads.

Lories are nocturnal animals and you have to come to terms with this. They wake up in the evening and fall asleep at dawn, rustling around in the cage all night, emitting whistling, hissing and grunting. Agree, it’s difficult to sleep to such “accompaniment” without getting used to it. You can try to slightly speed up the onset of the loris' evening activity by darkening the animal's cage.

Since lorises are omnivores, special problems does not occur with their diet. Although lorises may nibble during the day, the main feeding occurs during the day. evening time. No food from the “human” table! Lori can be given :
- crickets;
- cockroaches;
- locusts;
- caterpillars;
- Zophobasa;
- scalded shrimp;
- quail eggs;
- cottage cheese;
- various vegetables and fruits;
- lettuce leaves.

It is advisable to cut a salad from vegetables and fruits (at least 3 ingredients).

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Occasionally you can pamper the lori with a piece boiled chicken, but you can’t give them pork and beef. Loris can be periodically included in their diet fruit and vegetable purees, juices for baby food without sugar, sometimes you can add a little to drinking water honey. As a delicacy, loris can be offered several nuts or unsweetened cookies. From time to time, lorises will need vitamins (children's Kinder-Biovital).

Unfortunately, lorises get sick. The main scourge of these animals is respiratory infections, which they very quickly turn into pneumonia, otitis. Loris are prone to constipation And flatulence, especially if there is a lack of coarse fiber in the food, which is very dangerous for them due to the thin walls of the intestines. At poor nutrition loris may develop urolithiasis disease.

That's what they are, little loris. And if you need to think carefully before taking any animal into your home, then in this case, in my opinion, you need to think twice.

Perhaps it’s better to admire their extraordinary eyes in photographs or videos!

Those who have ever seen this funny animal will forever remember the huge sad eyes. Lemur loris- this is a small fluffy animal, small size, no bigger than a domestic cat, with huge sad eyes that reflect all the universal melancholy. Perhaps this is a longing for their relatives, the oldest mammals living on the planet, of which there are so few left.

Features of the lemur loris

Initially, this animal with huge sad eyes was considered a sloth because of its slowness. However, in 1766, J. Buffon, a naturalist, ranked it among the lemurs - i.e. prosimians. From the point of view of zoologists, this animal is also not a lemur and belongs to the order of primates, but the name Lemur lori is assigned to the fluffy, charming animal.

Habitat of the lemur loris

Natural habitats of loris lemurs in Southeast Asia. While true lemurs are most often found in Madagascar, loris lemurs are found in Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand.

There are three types of loris:

• slim lory,
• thick or lemur loris,
• small, pygmy loris.

Depending on the species, the size of the animal ranges from 20 to 35-40 centimeters, weight ranges from 300 grams to one and a half kilograms.

Newborn lemurs hold tightly to their mother, clinging to their stomach; babies lead this lifestyle for about 2 months, occasionally changing their location, moving to the stomach of a close relative, returning to their mother only for feeding. Mother's milk The cubs feed on average from four months to six months. The cub becomes ready for independent life after about a year and a half. One female gives birth to one or a pair of cubs.

The animals live in the crowns of trees, almost never coming down to the ground. The animal's lifestyle is nocturnal; during the day the animal prefers to sleep and does not like bright light. It goes to bed after sunrise, tightly grasping a tree branch; perhaps this feature also served as a reason to consider the loris a sloth.

Lemur loris character

The charming animal with sad eyes is extremely slow. He can remain motionless for a long time if he is in danger.

The animal has excellent hearing and vision, allowing it to navigate perfectly at night.

Laurie is quite curious and loves to play. He enters into couple relationships very choosily. It is not always possible for a representative of the opposite sex to be chosen to play the role of lover. Among the representatives of this species there are hermits who prefer solitude. The remaining animals prefer to live in small families or groups consisting of a male and several females.

They communicate between relatives using a variety of sounds, including at the level of ultrasound, which is inaccessible to human perception.
The lemur loris is not as harmless as it seems. In the area of ​​the animal's elbows there are glands filled with poisonous liquid; when the poison is mixed with saliva, the animal can inflict a fatal bite on the offender. Fortunately, he resorts to this measure quite rarely.

Diet of the lemur loris

The diet of the loris lemur includes all kinds of insects, including poisonous ones.
The animal loves the bark and sap of trees, plant foods, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Often its prey is small birds and eggs. Tree resin is another favorite of loris lemurs.

Pet lemur lori

Recently, keeping these animals at home has become common. It is worth noting that the animal is difficult to train, is quite finicky and requires a lot of care and attention, otherwise it can ignore the owner without feeling a drop of affection. You can tame a loris by hand-feeding it, especially with its favorite food.

When deciding to keep a pet at home, it is worth taking into account its nocturnal lifestyle and poor ability to potty train. With good care with care and affection, the animal can reciprocate.

Only breeders distribute loris lemurs, because... The removal of animals from their natural habitat is prohibited. In addition, a wild animal will never become tame and can be infected with all sorts of exotic diseases, which few people will like.

For home habitat, slow or dwarf lorises are most often chosen. The animal is certainly charming and exotic lovers will love it. It is worth considering, however, that this animal is wild and is not very suitable for keeping at home.

Video about the lemur loris

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To some extent, this is good, because this small cute animal is on the verge of extinction, people are pushing it out of its native habitats - the Comoros Islands and Madagascar. But before you buy, there are a few things you should know: important points content that will greatly influence your choice pet.

Lemur loris

Important to know before purchasing

Before we talk about keeping the loris lemur, it’s worth first highlighting all the difficulties:

1. This is an extremely touchy and stupid animal. All attempts to train the lemur only cause anger and bites are inevitable;
2. It is useless to train him to use a litter box; he will still go where he wants;
3. Nocturnal lifestyle. During the day, lorises also run and play, but periodically they still sleep, but at night their activity can be disturbed;
4. The main meal should also be at night;
5. Difficulties when purchasing, but more on that below.

These are the most primitive of primates, even more stupid than macaques, just a living, but very beautiful toy.

Characteristics of the lemur

But if you have enough patience and love to care for the lemur, but the animal will pay in the same coin, they are tamed quite easily and quickly, become very attached to the owner, and love to bask in his arms, as in the photo below.

Tame lemur

Characteristics of the animal:

• Color – yellow;
• Size - about the size of a medium cat;
• Weight – up to 10 kg;
• Males are calmer and more docile than females;
• Life expectancy in captivity is up to 20 years, but there are cases up to 30.

Buying a lemur

It is very difficult to buy a lemur; in captivity they practically do not reproduce, and the ebb tide and removal from their homeland are prohibited by local law, and there are few of them left in the wild.

Baby lemurs

When purchasing, study the documents very carefully to be sure that the lemur is domestic (born in a nursery or from breeders) and has not been removed from wildlife and brought in by smuggling. In addition to problems with the law, you risk being “rewarded” by tropical diseases, against which we have no immunity, and the animal will never become tame.

Considering that the price reaches 100,000 rubles, there is something to think about. If you decide to purchase more than one loris, they must be the same age, otherwise they will not get along.

For the first time, while the baby gets used to the new home, he will spend all his time in the cage, so choose a spacious cage with several hiding places. The ideal option is an aviary.

Lemur in a cage

The material does not matter - the rods can be metal, plastic or wood. The cage should have separate bowls for food and water, also made of any material. The water must be changed regularly, a couple of times a day.

It is advisable to recreate the landscape in the cage itself natural nature- branches, small trees, you can make a nest on a tree (for example, an old hat with earflaps), but it is better to have a closed house where the animal will hide. But you can’t clutter it up, lemurs have bursts of energy, they start running and jumping very actively, and there should be enough spacious space.

Once a month it is necessary to carry out general cleaning, wiping everything with a damp cloth. But natural waste products will have to be removed every day, and more than once.

It is best to place the cage in a calm, quiet place where there are no drafts, heaters, or direct sunlight. It is also recommended to purchase a weak UV lamp, which you can turn on during the day for a couple of hours.

Of course, when the baby gets comfortable and stops being afraid, you can let him walk around the apartment, gradually accustoming him to holding hands. The loris does not get along with other domestic animals and is also wary of children.

Diet

Lemurs feed on both plant and animal foods:

• Insects;
• Chicken fillet;
• Porridge;
• Dairy products;
• Vegetables fruits;
• Mealworms;
• Chicken eggs;
• Bread.

If the lemur refuses to eat, then coat the food with honey, they adore it.

Lemur eats a grasshopper

For balance, you need to adhere to the rule - a third of the diet is insects, a third is porridge and sour milk, and a third is vegetables and fruits. If there is too little or too much of some food, the lemur will get sick.

By the way, insects can be frozen in the freezer in the summer, thereby saving them for future use throughout the winter.

You shouldn’t offer them food from our table; allergies or intestinal disorders are possible.

Try to feed it by hand, thereby establishing contact so that the animal does not see you as a threat.

And remember - we are responsible for those we have tamed!

Few people asked themselves whether there are poisonous mammals- and this, despite the fact that there are quite a lot of such creatures among insects, reptiles and fish. There are such amazing warm-blooded animals, and a striking example of this is the small primate, which is popularly called the slow loris, and officially - Nycticebus.

They say that the poison of these prosimians is quite capable of killing not only small animals, but also humans. It is better for everyone to stay away from their sharp teeth - even if the poison does not kill, deep wounds are unlikely to heal soon.

Slow lorises live in dense tropical forests and bamboo groves in the southeastern regions of Asia and the islands of Indonesia. It belongs to the family of primates, and zoologists distinguish the following types: Bengal (the largest fat loris), slow, Javan, Kalimantan and dwarf. There is an assumption that once there was another variety, but many doubt this hypothesis, since it was put forward only on the basis of a single tooth found.

This semi-monkey itself looks very original:

• Its body length varies from 18 to 38 cm;
• Weight - no more than one and a half kilograms (for the largest species, the Bengal, it can range from one to one and a half kilograms, while for the smallest it does not reach three hundred grams);
• This animal has a small round head, inconspicuous ears and huge, saucer-like eyes, the size of which nature emphasized with black or dark brown circles. On the bridge of the nose there is a light stripe reminiscent of a clown mask (it’s interesting that the loris got its name precisely because of its funny face, since this word means “clown” in Dutch).
• Its fur is thick and soft to the touch, brownish-yellow or grayish in color, on its belly it is of a lighter tone, and a dark stripe stretches from the neck along the spine;
• The tail is short - from 1.5 to 2.5 cm;

The limbs of small primates are especially interesting. All four of its paws are almost the same length, and its fingers have nails (except for the second toes - here are the claws that it uses to comb out the fur of itself or its relatives).

The little slow loris has a very strong grip on its arms and legs, which does not weaken throughout the whole day, so they like to spend a lot of time hanging upside down and clinging to branches only with the soles of their hind legs.

These animals are quite capable of catching an insect flying near them and, holding their toes tightly, without stopping, continue to move on. And this despite the fact that their front legs do not have well-developed thumbs, due to which they cannot grab branches with their entire limb.

Thick lorises move by clinging to or along branches with their front paws, using all four paws. These animals do not have the ability to jump from branch to branch.

Diet

These fat, at first glance, clumsy animals set out to get food right after sunset - and literally before our eyes they turn into dexterous hunters, moving very carefully and carefully. The leaves through which they make their way barely move.

They feed on tree resin, fruits, flower nectar, bird eggs, insects and spiders. In addition, they catch invertebrates, small birds and rodents. And they love to eat it all, often hanging upside down.

Be careful - poison!

The poison of this animal is not as terrible as it seems at first glance. For example, there is a known case when a young woman, being four months pregnant, was bitten by it in the zoo - and complained only of acute pain from her teeth.

In any case, the process of this animal secreting poison is in itself very interesting and educational. The gland with poison begins to actively function in the slow loris at a rather tender age - starting from six weeks. These animals coat themselves with poison even when there is no visible danger; they constantly lick the elbow gland and wipe their heads on it.

The release of a toxic substance increases sharply if the animal is disturbed. He immediately takes a protective pose, tilts his head down, and raises his front paws towards his head, while an absolutely transparent, smelly liquid (about ten microliters), which also contains an allergen, begins to be released from the gland. He begins to vigorously rub this liquid into the head and neck, discouraging the predator from wanting to feast on it.

The slow loris also has extremely sharp teeth, which, due to its habit of constantly licking the ulnar gland, contain traces of poison.

Its bite is somewhat reminiscent of an injection, only very painful and with worse consequences. The victim quickly falls into anaphylactic shock (the so-called extreme manifestation allergic reaction). After a bite, its victims, in particular people, almost always come to their senses and recover.

Such a unique feature of the animal could not help but attract the attention of scientists who began to closely study this phenomenon. And they came to the conclusion that secretion from the gland may be the body’s reaction to danger and fear.

Lifestyle

These small animals spend most of their time in trees - during the day they sleep in a hollow or in dense foliage. They prefer to relax not in one place, but wherever they like - one loris can have about fifty such points. They like to relax alone, without company.

But when they wake up, they often and willingly communicate with each other. This mainly happens either during feeding, or when their individual areas overlap with each other (if only because the males occupy a significant large territory, which is constantly superimposed on the areas of several females at once). When meeting, these prosimians touch each other, sniff and comb their fur. To better understand their relatives, they use various postures and sound signals - from low grunts to clear whistles ( last sound made by females during the mating season).

At nine months for females, at one and a half years for males, puberty begins and they have offspring. The male learns that the female is ready to mate by the enzymes that she secretes simultaneously with her urine. The duration of pregnancy has not yet been precisely determined by science. For some – three months, for others – six months.

Loris usually give birth to one cub, with a maximum of two. Childbirth occurs on the first branch suitable for this, since these animals do not create a special place for such an event.

Children

The baby is born fully formed and almost immediately clings to the mother’s fur. During the first two weeks of life, she practically does not get off it. The father takes absolutely no part in raising his offspring.

The only exceptions are when the mother needs to go hunting, then she carefully removes the baby from her body and leaves it in a secluded place. In this case, the baby sits extremely quietly, so as not to in any way give away his location. If he has any problems or simply decides that he has spent enough time alone, he begins to chirp loudly - and then his mother, dropping everything, runs to him.

After two weeks, the baby slowly moves away from his nurse and begins to learn to move independently and look for food. He lives with his parent for quite a long time - exactly how long depends largely on the character of the animal itself. Some leave their mother as early as nine months, others at one and a half years. When the animal begins to understand that it has become old enough to live independently, it goes in search of its own site.

Enemies

These animals have almost no natural enemies as such. Mainly pythons, changeable crested eagle and orangutans. Well, and, naturally, people - firstly, due to the wholesale cutting down of trees, the habitat of the slow lorises is gradually declining. And secondly, poachers are diligently catching them. Recently, it has become extremely fashionable to keep them as pets.

Alas, when there is demand, there is also supply, and, despite the fact that the authorities of almost all countries where slow lorises live have long banned their export outside the state, smugglers have long learned to break the law.

Slow lorises are one of five genera of wild animals in the Loriaceae family, consisting of eight species, three of which have been formed quite recently. The main species include the following species: Bengal loris, slow loris, Javan loris, Kalimantan loris and dwarf or small slow loris. In 2013, the study of some individuals that previously belonged to the Kalimantan lorises allowed us to identify three more new species - N. borneanus, N. kayan and N. bancanus.

All representatives of the genus are included in the Red Book as vulnerable or endangered species. The export of slow lorises outside their native countries is prohibited by law and can result in fines and even imprisonment.

The habitat of rare animals extends from Bangladesh and Northeast India to the Philippines and from the Chinese province of Yunnan to the island of Java. They prefer tropical rainforests.

The size of slow lorises can vary depending on the species - body length ranges from 18 to 38 cm, and weight - from 300 grams to 1.5 kg. They are nocturnal animals, so nature has endowed them with large eyes with a reflective layer called tapetum, which allows them to see in the dark. The head is rounded, with a short muzzle. The eyes of all representatives of the genus are bordered by dark “glasses” and separated by a light stripe. Perhaps thanks to this appearance, resembling a clown mask, scientists gave the animals a corresponding name - translated from Dutch “loeris” means “clown”. The fur of slow lorises is soft and thick, its color varies from grayish to yellow, and the hair on the abdomen is lighter. Another one distinguishing feature- a dark stripe running from the neck along the entire spine. The ears are small and round. The hind and forelimbs are well developed, almost equal in length. All toes of slow lorises have nails, with the exception of the second toes of the hind limbs, which are equipped with “cosmetic” claws intended for grooming.

Exotic representatives of the fauna world from Asia lead an arboreal lifestyle in their natural habitat, practically without descending to the ground. They move with the help of four limbs, moving from branch to branch or moving along them along their length. Animals are endowed with an unusually strong grip of their arms and legs, which does not weaken throughout the day. This feature is explained by the special structure of the blood vessels of the extremities, which ensures intensive blood circulation and metabolism in the muscles during the movement of the animal.

Slow lorises are nocturnal, spending most (more than 90%) of their active period alone. Sometimes they can form pairs or small unstable groups. They spend the day curled up in a fork of tree branches and holding them tightly with their paws, or they are located in tree hollows and other suitable shelters that lie at a height. One slow loris can have more than 60 favorite resting spots. With the onset of darkness, the animals become animated and go hunting. They slowly travel along vines and tree branches, clinging to them with their fingers. To mark their territory, males regularly mark its boundaries, not forgetting to update these scent marks. While searching for food, they may accidentally encounter representatives of their own species, with whom their individual areas are adjacent. During such meetings, the animals touch each other, engage in mutual grooming, or communicate with each other through various poses. However, most often they receive information about a congener they have encountered through hearing and smell.

Compared to other mammals of similar size, slow lorises have an extremely slow metabolism, resulting in a very leisurely lifestyle. Their main feature– the smooth and somewhat slow nature of their movements helps them sneak up on prey unnoticed or hide from enemies. True, when lorises are not afraid, they are able to move quite quickly - for example, walking around the territory and leaving marks.

Depending on the time of year, the animals' diet consists of varying proportions of fruits, plants, tree resin, bird eggs, nectar, insects, terrestrial mollusks and small vertebrates. Animals catch insects with one or both hands, often grabbing branches with their hind limbs for better balance. To the main natural enemies Slow lorises include orangutans, pythons and changeable crested eagles.

Males reach sexual maturity at the age of 17-20 months, females at 18-24 months. Pregnancy lasts 180-190 days, after which the female gives birth to one or two cubs. Newborn lorises hold tightly to their mother’s fur for the first 14 days. Sometimes the female carefully removes the baby and places it in a hollow tree or a secluded fork in the branches, where it sits quietly and unnoticed while the mother forages for food. In case of discomfort, the cub emits a loud chirp, and the female hurries to him. It is believed that in the wild the male does not take part in raising the offspring, but in captivity they can take the cubs and carry them on themselves until they get hungry and want to return to the nurse. After 5-7 months, the baby is separated from the mother’s care, and at the age of 1-1.5 years he becomes old enough to live independently. In captivity, the life expectancy of representatives of the Loriidae family is 20-25 years.

Thick lorises are not the most talkative primates - they use sounds mainly to signal aggression, anxiety, and for communication between the cub and mother.

Although international trade slow lorises are prohibited and threaten to reduce their population; poachers continue to actively catch and export them for the purpose of selling them as pets. At the same time, the transportation of the animals does not take place, to put it mildly, under the most favorable conditions and many of them die on the road. There is also a serious danger mass felling tropical forests inhabited by these arboreal animals. The World Wildlife Fund is making every effort to increase the population of slow lorises, promoting their breeding in reserves and in captivity.