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They couldn’t slow its roll.
An Indonesian primate that was lost to science for nearly 89 years has blown scientists’ minds after resurfacing in a shockingly urban setting.
This nocturnal tree-dweller, dubbed the Bangka slow loris, belongs to the world’s only group of venom-packing primates, activating its toxin by licking a gland on its own arm.
A denizen of the Indonesian islands of Bangka, Sumatra, and Borneo, the googly-eyed herbivore was last documented in 1937 and feared extinct — until now.
In a groundbreaking study, researchers revealed that more than 90 of the slow lorises had been documented across various locales in Bangka between 2015 and 2025.
Many had turned up in backyards, along roadsides, and even on power lines on the populous island, prompting locals to alert the Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center, Phys.org reported.
Unfortunately, many were in bad shape due to various injuries, including contact with electrical wires, while one had been savaged by a dog. Despite their wounds, the org reportedly managed to recover and release 86 into the wild.
The researchers were astonished that the rare creature could be hiding in plain sight for so long.
“What I find particularly astonishing is that such a charismatic and distinctive primate has received so little scientific attention for nearly a century,” study author Timon Glaw, a graduate student in nature conservation at the Haus des Meeres Aqua Terra Zoo in Vienna, Austria, told Reuters. “Its rediscovery also offers hope that other species feared to be extinct may still survive in places where scientists have not looked for decades.”
He added, “After all, Bangka is just about an hour flight from Jakarta, one of the largest cities in the world.”
Indeed, someone’s backyard is likely the last place to find this elusive creature, which is more closely related to lemurs than monkeys.
The Bangka slow loris is one of the smaller members of its genus, measuring just 10 inches on average — five inches less than its cousin, the Sumatran slow loris, Gizmodo reported.
It’s also one of the most lethal, packing enough venom to cause a person to go into anaphylactic shock, although the toxin is primarily used in defensive grooming rituals with other members of its own kind.
Unfortunately, these shy leaf-eaters have more to fear from us. In a statement, Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center Director Langka Sani noted that the creature’s natural habitat “has shrunk significantly because of illegal tin mining and massive land clearing for oil palm plantations.”
“We are glad to contribute to the scientific record to show that the Bangka slow loris is not lost, but the species is still very close to extinction,” they said.
Currently, the rare animal is listed as “critically endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
Glaw said rediscovering the primate is “only the first step” and that they’ll need a “long-term conservation strategy” — complete with studies, surveys and habitat protection — to make sure it doesn’t become extinct for real.