In a good news for wildlife lovers, the Tamil Nadu Government has notified India’s first sanctuary for the endangered Slender Loris. Slender Loris is a small, nocturnal primate, commonly found in the tropical scrub and deciduous forests of Southern India and Sri Lanka.
The sanctuary, ‘Kadavur Slender Loris Sanctuary’ will come up in Karur and Dindigul districts under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. The sanctuary will cover Vedasandur, Dindigul East and Natham areas in these districts. According to official sources, the sanctuary will cover an area of 11,806 hectares. The sanctuary will play an important role in conservation of the endangered wild species.
IUCN has listed Slender Loris as ‘Endangered’. Meanwhile, Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972, accords them the highest level of legal protection. Further, the WWF-India is working to protect the habitats of the Slender Loris through its wider conservation work in the Western Ghats – Nilgiris Landscape.
Earlier, the Tamil Nadu government had notified India’s first Dugong Conservation Reserve in Palk Bay, Kazhuveli bird sanctuary in Villupuram and Nanjarayan Tank birds sanctuary in Tiruppur and the State’s fifth elephant reserve at Agasthyamalai in Tirunelveli.