Streams of light break through the darkness. The canopy illuminates…and suddenly, for a fleeting moment, two yellow lights shine back. Gradually, the animal creeps around in the inter-twined branches, until its tiny figure is lost in the foliage.
In the silence of Indian Institute of Science (IISc), a group of around 15 volunteers – software engineers, birdwatchers, students – stroll through the campus in search of the elusive slender loris. They are part of The Urban Slender Loris Project, which seeks to find the status of the tiny primate that was once abundant in the city. This is the first such survey in Bengaluru and was initiated by ecologist Kaberi Kar Gupta.
The citizen-science project also seeks to document the past distribution of lorises – through interviews with old-timers and records – and to train volunteers who will monitor and aid the conservation of the solitary, nocturnal creature.
“It is heartening to know that even in a big city such as this, an endangered species can survive…We hope to make the slender loris the focal creature in preserving the bio-diversity of the city. It is cute, and can be popular enough to become the icon of Bengaluru,” said Ms. Gupta.
The habitat of the loris also houses numerous other ‘urban creatures’, including insects, small mammals, butterflies, and so, protecting the loris would mean protecting the urban forest, she said.
Ms. Gupta says nearly five decades ago, the animal was synonymous with the green spaces of the city – J.P. Nagar, Cubbon Park and even M.G. Road – and was sold as a pet in neighbourhood markets. Rapid urbanisation and loss of thick tree cover has seen the animal being confined to very small pockets. However, Bengaluru, she believes, houses the largest population of lorises among urban centres in south India.
With the loris population significant in the thick copses of IISc, she and others in the project have trained numerous volunteers on spotting and recording the loris and its habitat over the past month. “If this is to be a long-term project, people are needed to monitor the habitats we have identified. This is a community awareness programme, and hope they keep an eye on their backyard,” said Ms. Gupta, adding that the project hopes to get information on the furtive poaching and pet trading of the protected creature.
