Endangered slow loris spotted on fence near S'pore forest moving very slowly

A man's walk home one night took an exciting turn when he stumbled on a rare Sunda slow loris.

Facebook user Christopher Kwek captured the moment and shared it on the Singapore Wildlife Sightings group, including a video of the primate crawling on all fours on top of a fence.

Kwek, who lives next to a forest, told Mothership he was walking home from dinner on the night of Jul. 15 with his daughter, who noticed the slow loris on the fence.

Given where he lives, he said it is "not uncommon to encounter wild animals, including wild boars, flying lemurs, spiny shell turtles, pangolins".

However, it was his first time seeing a slow loris in the wild.

He declined to reveal the location of the creature in order to safeguard the species.

Having observed it for around 30 minutes, he described it simply as "calm and very slow".

Most of the comments under the post admired the slow loris' "adorable" appearance, though one user expressed concern that it might be sick, injured, or lost as it was found on a fence in a more urbanised area.

When asked, Kwek said that it did not look sick or weak.

Endangered primates

The Sunda slow loris is a venomous primate native to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.

A shy species, they can typically be found in forests such as the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Central Catchment Nature Reserve, and Pulau Tekong.

They are classified as endangered in the Singapore Red Data Book.

According to the National Parks Board (NParks), they are threatened globally by habitat loss, poaching, and wildlife trade.

They are also often caught and sold as pets in the illegal pet trade due to their attractive and cute appearance.

If kept as pets, their teeth are removed so they cannot deliver their venomous bites, and oftentimes, the loris' die in captivity due to stress.

It is illegal to keep slow lorises as pets in Singapore.

Top images by Christopher Kwek/Facebook