Feared Extinct for Nearly a Century, the Venomous Bangka Slow Loris Turns Up Alive in Indonesia

For almost a hundred years, the Bangka slow loris existed mainly as a question mark. The small primate had not been documented in the scientific literature since the 1930s, and the IUCN Red List classifies it as critically endangered and possibly extinct.

This week, that question finally got an answer. A new study published in the scientific journal Spixiana confirms that the species is still alive across much of Bangka, an island off the southeastern coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. The animals were never truly gone. Science simply had not been looking in the right places.

Hiding in plain sight

The evidence did not come from a remote expedition deep in the jungle. It came from backyards, roadsides and power lines, where residents kept finding the slow animals and calling for help.

According to the conservation group Re:wild, the Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center on Bangka rescued more than 90 Bangka slow lorises between 2015 and 2025. Of those, 86 recovered and were released at seven sites on the island. The rescues took place in all four regencies of Bangka and in the city of Pangkal Pinang, which suggests the species may still live across much of the island.

For more than a decade, those encounters were known to the people of Bangka and to the rescue team, but they had never made it into the scientific record. The new paper changes that.

How a conversation became a study

Re:wild says the study began with a conversation in Java. While visiting the Taman Safari Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark, Timon Glaw of the Haus des Meeres Aqua Terra Zoo in Vienna learned from conservationist Jochen Menner that the Bangka slow loris was listed as possibly extinct and was among Re:wild's most wanted lost primates.

Menner connected him with Alobi, and Glaw discovered that the rescue center had what the scientific literature lacked: documented encounters with the species. Alobi, the Vienna zoo and the Taman Safari breeding center then worked together to analyze the records and publish the findings.

The timing carries a little symbolism. The study's publication coincides with Lost Species Month, which is celebrated in October.

A strange and remarkable animal

Slow lorises are among the most unusual primates on Earth. They are the only primates known to be venomous. They lick a gland on the inside of the upper arm and mix the secretion with saliva, producing a bite that can be painful and cause swelling.

They have huge, round eyes for seeing in the dark and move slowly, silently and deliberately through the trees so they blend into the night. The Bangka slow loris is a small loris with a reddish back and a pale facial mask. It was first scientifically described in 1906, but it was only recognized as its own species in 2013.

That long gap between description and recognition helps explain how an animal could slip out of the scientific record while still living alongside people every day.

Not lost, but still in danger

The good news comes with a warning. Langka Sani, director of the Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center, said in Re:wild's announcement that the species is not lost but is still very close to extinction. Sani pointed to illegal tin mining and massive land clearing for oil palm plantations as reasons its natural habitat has shrunk significantly.

Bangka is home to more than one million people, and the study identifies human settlements, roads and power lines as significant threats. Slow lorises are also targeted by the pet trade across their range in Asia.

Glaw said bringing the animal back onto the scientific radar is only the first step. The authors recommend a conservation program on Bangka that protects suitable habitat and continues monitored releases following IUCN Species Survival Commission guidelines. They also propose a conservation breeding program, along with population surveys, genetic studies and tracking of how released animals fare once they return to the forest.

Why this story matters

It is easy to think of extinction as a door that closes quietly and forever. This story is a reminder that sometimes the door was never closed at all. The people who share a landscape with a species often know far more than the official record shows.

Re:wild's Benji Barca made that point directly, noting that a species can disappear from the scientific record without disappearing from the lives of the people who share its home. For a decade, a small rescue team on Bangka answered calls, healed injured animals and returned them to the forest, keeping careful notes along the way. Those notes are now the reason the world knows this primate survived.

The next chapter depends on whether its forests survive too. Stories like this one are worth sharing, because attention is often the first resource a threatened species needs.