One of my MSc Primate Conservation students Andy Gray at Oxford Brookes describes her research project helping care for slow lorises without teeth! Andy is kindly funded by UFAW. We also would like to thank Exotic Nutrition for donating their ‘jungle jelly’ to the lorises in her project!!

“I am currently a volunteer researcher at IAR’s Ciapus Primate Centre studying to get my Master’s degree from Oxford Brookes University. In my 3 months here, I have been conducting a captive study to examine which types of enrichment might reduce stress for the slow lorises living here. In particular, I have used tree gums, as gouging large holes in trees for gum has been reported often in the wild. Because many of the lorises at the centre have their teeth brutally clipped or pulled in the illegal trade, gouging these holes is quite difficult for them in captivity. My goal was to provide a successful way for the lorises to eat tree gums while still performing some “gouging” behaviours through soft materials, like banana leaves. I also wanted this to be challenging and entertaining enrichment for the lorises with teeth as well.

Erwin eating gum enrichment

Beyond my enrichment study, I have also conducted an experiment regarding boldness and shyness of the lorises. I have focused on lorises who are candidates for release, and have used novel objects to determine how willing they are to approach and explore new things. I hope that this will be beneficial for the centre when judging which lorises are the best candidates for release, because studies with other species have shown that animals survive better post-release if they are either bold or shy (depending on the species). No one has studied this before in lorises, so it is unknown whether or not they are more likely to survive if they are bold or shy. I am very excited for the long-term research possibilities for the centre, even after I leave.