Deforestation

Slow lorises are also particularly susceptible to habitat fragmentation and the felling of feed and sleeping trees causes habitat degradation and increased contact with people. In India, for example, habitat destruction is the worst threat to slow lorises. Jhum cultivation (slash-and-burn cultivation) is also a significant habitat threat in India, as is tea cultivation and other agricultural land use. Other reasons for habitat destruction include monoculture, logging, fuel-wood extraction, land use for paper production, and the construction of infrastructure. In China, habitat destruction is also the biggest threat to resident slow lorises and suitable areas are often destroyed for cash crops such as rubber, sugarcane, and coffee growing. 

All this deforestation for human uses effectively destroys the slow loris’ habitat, eventually resulting in their deaths. Also, habitat fragmentation obstructs biological dispersal for these species that rely on vines and lianas to move from tree to tree. In other words, the selective removal of certain parts of forests creates groups of small and isolated slow loris populations, leading to decreased genetic variation due to decreased gene flow between the different slow loris populations. Furthermore, the construction of infrastructure can result in slow lorises being electrocuted on power lines as they mistake them for vines or see them end up as victims of roadkill in areas where roads cut between forest patches.