Release of greater slow lorises, confiscated from the pet trade, to Batutegi Protected Forest, Sumatra, Indonesia

Summary

Greater slow lorises (Nycticebus coucang) are heavily traded in Sumatra's Lampung and Medan ports despite Indonesian legal protection and their 2007 transfer to CITES Appendix I. In April 2007, the rescue centre Pusat Penyelamatan Satwa (PPS) Lampung confiscated 19 lorises, five adults and 14 juveniles; 12 died from stress in captivity, leaving two lactating mothers and five surviving juveniles. Oxford Brookes University researchers volunteered to assess and release the survivors into Batutegi Protected Forest, an 11,000 hectare primary rainforest already known to hold lorises at low density. From 23 April to 17 June 2007, the team conducted nightly behavioral observations of locomotion, social interaction, and foraging to confirm the animals were healthy and exhibiting natural behavior before release. After health checks, including tuberculosis testing and parasite treatment, the seven lorises were transported by truck and boat to the forest edge, carried 3.5 kilometres, and held two days in a bamboo and net rehabilitation cage before release on the night of 16 June 2007; all seven emerged voluntarily, foraged, allogroomed, and played, with juveniles showing independence from their mothers. Long-term post-release monitoring proved impossible due to local customs restricting nighttime forest access. The project rated itself Partially Successful, noting the animals appeared healthy with a good chance of survival, but that limited monitoring severely hindered any firm judgement of outcome, and captivity was not a viable long-term alternative given Indonesia's lack of holding facilities.