User:Maky/Sandbox9

Slender Loris conservation notes

"Slender lorises are prevalent in the folklore of the two major ethnographic groups of the country—Sinhalese and Tamil. ... Slender lorises were also considered to bring ill luck, especially when leaving on a journey."

"Traditional beliefs may also drive people to kill [slender] lorises on sight. In North Central Province, a forest guard reported lorises may be stoned to death owing to a belief that they are witches. Another informant proclaimed that she always killed a loris upon encountering one, as they are ugly skeletons with skin. When discussing lorises with colleagues and villagers, these practices were common knowledge, even if the informant did not use them him/herself. More often, however, people described lorises as shy, innocent, and rarely seen."

"Although British residents of Ceylon considered [slender lorises] desirable pets [Still, 1905], a more prevalent view among Sri Lankans is that they are ugly creatures, a sentiment also present in a proverb—the young loris is a gem to its mother, meaning only a mother could love it. Similarly, loris is a derogatory term to describe a thin person [Somander, 1969; Tennent, 1861]. Lorises are also widely known as the only animal quiet enough to be able to stalk a peafowl in its roost, eating only its brain [Still, 1930; Tennent, 1861]."

"They also described the slender loris as evil, said they were kept by gypsies as omens of bad luck, and noted that if one heard a loris upon waking or before leaving on a journey one would have bad luck."