Maksam Tayeng 

PASIGHAT, Aug 28: A rescued Slow Loris was released in the Pasighat Reserved Forest by forest officials today. The endangered primate was rescued by an unidentified person from his residence premises.
While releasing the Slow Loris back in the forest, Niraj Tamuk, RFO who is a Gold Medalist for his outstanding services in rescuing captive Wildlife Elephant calf in the past when he was Range Officer, Mebo RF, appreciated the unknown rescuer. “Such noble gesture from the general public is appreciable and his act of kindness toward wildlife will go a long way in conservation and protection of wildlife for human-animal coexistence. And through this press statement I would also like to request that person to visit my Pasighat Range office to register his name so that I could recommend his name to the higher authorities for acknowledging his good deeds by issuing a letter of appreciation," added Tamuk.
Slow Loris species come under schedule-I animals of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and is listed as either ‘vulnerable’ or ‘endangered’ on the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. All slow lorises are threatened by the wildlife trade and habitat loss. Their habitat is rapidly disappearing and becoming fragmented, making it nearly impossible for Slow Lorises to disperse between forest fragments; unsustainable demand from the exotic pet trade and from traditional medicine has been the greatest cause for their decline in population. 
When asked about the protection of forests under Pasighat RF which  was a hot topic in recent times for illegal mass felling of trees which also results in habitat loss for wildlife, Tamuk, who took charge recently assured to check all such illegalities of illegal felling including complete halt on illegal hunting prevalent in the RF. 
Divisional Forest Officer, Pasighat Forest Division, Dr. Hano Moda said “Slow Loris is  harmless and an endangered species which needs to be protected among others. When we put effort into protecting and preserving wild animals, forest is automatically protected as without habitat we can’t imagine to protect them and when habitat i.e. forest is protected every natural heritage is protected, which  in turn gives us much needed healthy ecosystem services. This gesture of kindness from the unknown rescuer is important especially for Pasighatian brethren and Adi community as a whole, because of the much popular traditional practice of hunting."
It is important to mention here that, there have been growing cases of Slow Loris coming to human habitation and settlement areas in the recent past. In this connection several numbers of Slow Lorises have been rescued and released back both in the Pasighat Reserved Forests and in D. Ering Wildlife Sanctuary in recent years. The scientific, natural and local cause of such continuous migration of these primates to the human settlement areas need to be studied thoroughly. Locally called ‘Besung Raye’ in Adi and ‘Lajuki Bandor’ in Assamese, these primate’s intruding into human settlement areas and houses are traditionally believed to be unnatural and shows bad omen. Due to such intrusions into human settlement areas, several Slow Loris have been found to be injured and killed by dogs and other ignorant people including some getting electrocuted for climbing and clinging on electric poles in the past. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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