Javan Slow Loris (Nycticebus javanicus)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 172516697

Little Fireface Project: Conserving critically endangered slow loris and other obscure and forgotten nocturnal mammals through ecology, education and empowerment

The Little Fireface Project is working to save the slow loris from extinction due to deforestation in Java and its populariity as a pet or in medicine. We gather long-term data on their behaviour and ecology that can be used to protect and improve the outlook for slow lorises, as well as working with zoos and rescue centres on captive care and the potential for released animals to survive.  In particular, we are working on the establishment of an agroforestry coffee-growing project that will provide safe territory for the loris and involve the local community in its protection. 

 

We aim to run the project until 2022, making it a ten-year gathering of data, and have four main aims:

 

1) To bring slow lorises back from the brim of extinction by studying their ecology, understanding their habitat needs, and knowing how to keep them in captivity and release them.

2) To encourage local people to protect lorises through an education programme.

3) To establish a new agroforestry coffee-growing project focusing on reforestation with trees that have value to local farmers and ecological value to loris populations.

4) To act as a model for species conservation and inspire the public and young conservationists.

 

The slow loris is a little-understood primate that desperately needs support and understanding if it is not to disappear.