A slow loris, recently surrendered to Matang Wildlife Centre, was successfully released into the surrounding Kubah National Park. The animal was in good health on arrival to the centre and it was deemed in its best interest to return it to the wild.



The slow loris is nocturnal by nature, and this individual was certainly confused by so much action taking place for it during daylight hours. It sat through a 40minute walk through the forest in a carry case to a release site a couple of kilometres away from the centre and human civilisation. On reaching this destination though, it was not too eager to escape its cage and make for the trees.



Most people assume that when an animal is presented with its natural environment, it will quickly run towards its home and freedom. Sadly, this is rarely the case as animals become used to captivity very rapidly and are often reluctant to leave this existence behind. After some lengthy consideration though, the slow loris did indeed step out of the box and, despite its name, make a hasty line for the forest. We hope to catch images of it on the camera traps recently donated to the centre.

Labels: great orangutan project, matang, orangutan, slow loris, the great projects

After being found on the road side, a slow loris was surrendered to Matang in May 09. These incredibly cute small mammals are primates, with opposable thumbs utilised for clinging tightly onto branches. As their name suggests, they are slow and steady locomotors. They dwell in the tree tops, and like the orangutan employ a three-to-one climbing technique - three limbs cling to branches at all times while one will locate the next step to be made. This makes for extremely safe and secure locomotion through the 40m+ canopy of Borneo.



These pictures show the animal emerging from its carry case - it lived up to its name and appeared in no rush to return to the trees. It then ambled through the undergrowth before vanishing from sight into Kubah National Park.

Labels: matang, matang wildlife centre, slow loris