Slow Loris Nycticebus coucang

Head and body length of N. coucang is up to 265-380 mm. Weights range from 375 - 2000 g. The soft, thick, wooly fur is a light brownish gray to reddish brown above, sometimes tipped with a lighter color. The underparts are lighter buff or gray. There is usually a dark midline along the neck and back and a dark streak between the orbital rings.

Because of an unusual hand formation N. coucang has an extremely strong grip, the thumb is almost perpendicular to the other fingers and the great toe is perpendicular or points even slightly backward.

N. coucang is primarily arboreal and strictly nocturnal, foraging mainly on fruits and gum. Preferred habitat is dense vegetation in secondary rainforest and deciduous forest. A continuous canopy provides N. coucang with both food and shelter as no nests are built. Slow lorises are solitary, using scent for communication. They have extremely slow metabolic rates for their body weight - 40 percent lower than expected for an animal of their size.

After a gestation period of 193 days, females produce one offspring and occasionally twins. The female will park her baby on a branch for a short time while foraging. Young are weaned at 9 months and have an expected lifespan of 12-14 years.

N. coucang is dwindling in numbers due to increased habitat loss to agriculture and logging and to hunting. They are located in Sulu Arch. (S Philippines); the Malay Peninsula, Tioman and offshore islands, Sumatra, Bangka, Java, Borneo, and Natuna Isl.