Tereh, Acil and Xena are among the oldest slow lorises that we currently observe in Cipaganti and we have been lucky enough to observe these three individuals for much of their lives.

As such, we have witnessed many important events in their lives, but sometimes we return home from an observation shift with even more questions than we started with. In fact, we could probably write a book on each of these lorises’ life histories, but for now, we will give you some insight into the main events we have been able to witness!

Tereh is the daughter of Ena, the first loris collared by LFP in Cipaganti in 2012. Tereh was already an adult loris when we met her, meaning she is at least ten years old! The name “Tereh” means speedy in Sundanese; she was given this name as she regularly used the waterlines that pass over farmers’ fields, meaning she is able to travel long distances very quickly, leaving us to catch up on foot! Over her long life she has mated with three different males, Guntur, Azka and Alomah and given birth to 10 known offspring, four of which have also been observed until their dispersal.

After Fernando lost his mate Maya, he attempted to win Tereh’s heart and fought with her mate Alomah in the process. This vicious attack resulted in Alomah losing his life, and Tereh losing her mate. Unsurprisingly, this act of aggression from Fernando did not endear Tereh to Fernando, and he failed to win her heart. After the loss of her beloved Alomah in 2018, this dignified older lady was slow to move on, and apparently remained single for several years. Since 2020, we have noticed that she is spending a significant amount of time with Fernando’s adult son Solo, but Tereh is quite a private loris and likes to keep to herself so it is often hard to see what is really going on during their dates. The only way we will truly know how serious their relationship has become, will be when we finally get a glimpse of a new little fireface!

Acil has been enjoying the bachelor life for the last few years. After the disappearance of his mate Sibau in 2016 he has essentially remained single, other than brief fling with Xena (that may or may not have resulted in Xandy and Xerxes!). Truthfully, we could not understand why Acil would remain single for so long, as a strong (although admittedly not the most handsome) adult male in the prime of his life, he should have females falling at his feet. Perhaps he was simply waiting for “the one”! Back in July 2020 we finally saw Acil spending time with an unknown adult loris and realised that he might have found what he was looking for. Over the last several months we have been excitedly watching their relationship develop, and just last week we spotted Acil cuddled up with a new baby in his bamboo patch! Although we have not formally met Acil’s wife, it is only a matter of time until we have a chance to introduce ourselves to his new happy little family.

Xena is the first and only rescued loris that we followed long-term since their release. She was found on the roof of a house in a nearby village and brought to LFP for rehabilitation and release. It is hypothesised that Xena had been caught for the illegal wildlife trade and had escaped her cage. After a medical check-up confirmed that she was healthy, and her teeth had not been clipped, she was released into the forest near her rescue site. She was collared in order to conduct post-release monitoring and after a few weeks, she had moved from her release site into our study area, and thus became one of our followed lorises. Since 2016 Xena has given birth to three (known) offspring; her first son Xerves sadly died during dispersal however her second son Xandy dispersed successfully into the forest above the study area.

Her third offspring Xiaodan is a subadult and may start their dispersal out of Xena’s home range soon. Xena’s journey into motherhood has provided crucial data on the ability of rescued lorises to raise young successfully. Xena does not have an identified mate at the moment and is still looking for love; she spent over a year with another followed loris Acil, who we believe to be the father of her first two offspring, however Acil left Xena in 2019 so the appearance of Xiaodan raises questions as to who Xena may be mated with now.