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loris.jpg

Slow, Poisonous, Toothless

October 18, 2010

The slow loris is the world’s only poisonous primate. Its venom is stored in an elbow patch: the loris will suck in the poison from the patch, then mix it around in its mouth before delivering a toxic bite. So, when illegal traders catch them and sell them on, they usually remove the hapless creatures’ teeth - with wire cutters. 

If they are lucky enough to be returned to the wild, most lorises will survive on a subsistence diet of tree sap. Occasionally, they do attempt to hunt geckos and birds, but it can be a challenge without their teeth. The standard technique is to sneak up on a bird, grab them and then strangle them with their hands and feet. The only difficulty in this strategy is actually eating their prey, a phase of the hunt that is often abandoned.

In Death, Humanity, Nature, Violence
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