Status, distribution, and conservation of slender lorises in India

Abstract

Two recognized subspecies of slender loris, Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus and L. l. malabaricus , are endemic to Peninsular India. L. l. lydekkerianus has been reported from the drier forests of the Eastern Ghats south of the Godavari River, while L. l. malabaricus has been found in the wet forests of the Western Ghats south of the river Tapti. On the basis on con firmed sightings of individuals, we present a review of current understanding of the distribution and conservation status of India's endemic slender loris subspecies. A possible third subspecies occupies a patchy distribution along the eastern foothills of the southern Western Ghats. To facilitate conservation planning, we modeled potential distributions for each recognized subspecies.