Between 2015 and 2025, the Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center documented more than 90 Bangka slow lorises, an animal listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as possibly extinct in 2020. Many individuals were discovered navigating hazardous anthropogenic environments like roads, gardens, and power lines that caused severe injuries. Rescuers successfully rehabilitated and released 86 of the primates into suitable natural habitats across the island. However, researchers stress that widespread tin mining and oil palm plantations still pose significant risks to the species' remaining wild territories.
Key points
Encounters in settled areas demonstrate that the primates are surviving outside tradition…: Encounters in settled areas demonstrate that the primates are surviving outside traditionally protected forest environments.
Expanding oil palm plantations and tin mining continue to destroy critical habitat across…: Expanding oil palm plantations and tin mining continue to destroy critical habitat across the island of Bangka.
Comprehensive field surveys remain necessary to accurately map the species' wild populati…: Comprehensive field surveys remain necessary to accurately map the species' wild population distribution and remaining forest cover.
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For decades, one of Indonesia’s rarest primates survived largely beyond the view of scientists. Now, a series of wildlife rescues on the island of Bangka has brought the elusive animal back into focus, offering fresh hope for a species once feared to have disappeared entirely. According to Reuters reporting by Will Dunham, a new study published in the journal Spixiana documents more than 90 Bangka slow lorises identified between 2015 and 2025. The findings, also highlighted by the Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center and conservation group Re:wild, suggest that the little-known primate has survived despite decades without reliable scientific records and continuing pressure on its habitat.
A rare primate emerges from decades of uncertainty
The Bangka slow loris, scientifically known as Nycticebus bancanus, lives on Bangka, an Indonesian island off the southeastern coast of Sumatra. Small, nocturnal and adapted to life in trees, it has reddish-brown fur, distinctive facial markings and large eyes that help it navigate the forest after dark.
The species was last documented in historical scientific records from around 1930 to 1932. With little reliable information available for…
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