{"id":892310,"date":"2026-10-23T21:10:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T21:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/892310\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T21:10:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T21:10:17","slug":"venomous-primate-found-in-indonesia-after-vanishing-in-1930s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/892310\/","title":{"rendered":"Venomous primate found in Indonesia after vanishing in 1930s"},"content":{"rendered":"

They couldn\u2019t slow its roll.<\/p>\n

An Indonesian primate that was lost to science for nearly 89 years has blown scientists\u2019 minds after resurfacing in a shockingly urban setting.<\/p>\n

This nocturnal tree-dweller, dubbed the Bangka slow loris, belongs to the world\u2019s only group of venom-packing primates<\/a>, activating its toxin by licking a gland on its own arm.<\/p>\n

\"AThe Bangka slow loris vanished in the 1930s and was feared extinct until it was rediscovered recently in people\u2019s backyards, alongside roads and on power lines. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"SlowA Bangka slow loris hangs from a tree on the island of Bangka, east of Sumatra, Indonesia. via REUTERS<\/p>\n

A denizen of the Indonesian islands of Bangka, Sumatra, and Borneo, the googly-eyed herbivore was last documented in 1937 and feared extinct<\/a> \u2014 until now.<\/p>\n

In a groundbreaking study,<\/a> researchers revealed that more than 90 of the slow lorises had been documented across various locales in Bangka between 2015 and 2025.<\/p>\n

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.<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The researchers were astonished that the rare creature<\/a> could be hiding in plain sight for so long. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I find particularly astonishing is that such a charismatic and distinctive \u2060primate has received so little scientific attention for nearly a century,\u201d study author Timon Glaw, a graduate student in nature conservation at the Haus des Meeres Aqua Terra Zoo in Vienna, Austria, told Reuters.<\/a> \u201cIts rediscovery also offers hope that other species feared to be extinct may still survive in places where scientists have not \u200blooked for decades.\u201d <\/p>\n

He added, \u201cAfter all, Bangka is just about an hour flight from Jakarta, one of the largest cities in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, someone\u2019s backyard is likely the last place to find this elusive creature, which is more closely related to lemurs than monkeys.<\/p>\n

The Bangka slow loris is one of the smaller members of its genus,<\/a> measuring just 10 inches on average \u2014 five inches less than its cousin, the Sumatran slow loris, Gizmodo reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s natural habitat \u201chas shrunk significantly because of illegal tin mining and massive land clearing for oil palm plantations.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n

Currently, the rare animal is listed as \u201ccritically endangered\u201d<\/a> on the International Union for Conservation of Nature\u2019s Red List.<\/a><\/p>\n

Glaw said rediscovering the primate is \u201conly the first step\u201d and that they\u2019ll need a \u201clong-term conservation strategy\u201d \u2014 complete with studies, surveys and habitat protection \u2014 to make sure it doesn\u2019t become extinct for real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They couldn\u2019t slow its roll. An Indonesian primate that was lost to science for nearly 89 years has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":892311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[1147,2027,192,79,3284,201],"class_list":["post-892310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-animals","tag-endangered-species","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-study-says","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}