LAUSR

diets for captive lorises and galagos based on what is known of their feeding habits in the wild. A second discusses the history of lorises in captivity and the importance of zoo records, and a third reviews and recommends best practices for their breeding and husbandry. The ecology and behaviour section comprises eight chapters, covering behavioural research in the wild, including visual function and ecology, thermoregulation (lorises), home range and activity budgets, a general review of what is known of potto and angwantibo behaviour, positional behaviour and substrate preference, feeding and foraging of released Philippine slow lorises, ranging patterns of the pygmy slow loris in Cambodia, and mother–infant interactions and behaviour of captive Sunda lorises. Lorises being small, often solitary, nightowls, a number of the chapters in the second section are revelatory in the creative methods used to study them in the wild: identifying them and following them to record their activities and diets, and their foraging, ranging and social behaviour. Five chapters in the third section, ‘Research, trade and conservation’, cover research methods: censusing, data collection, the sophisticated equipment and techniques used, and the precautions and care required in trapping and collaring them. Notable is a box that explains the need for the use of red light when observing them—white light disturbs them and probably damages their sensitive eyes. All of the nine slow loris species,Nycticebus, are categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List, two as Critically Endangered. The red slender loris Loris tardigradus of Sri Lanka is also Endangered, and the grey slender loris Loris lydekkerianus of Sri Lanka and India is, for the moment at least, considered Least Concern. Too little is known of the pottos Perodicticus and angwantibos Arctocebus, but the Benin potto Perodicticus juju is categorized as Endangered. Declines in their numbers result from the destruction of their habitats and from hunting for human consumption and the wildlife trade. Following a review of the distribution and conservation status of the pygmy loris and Bengal slow loris in China, the remaining five chapters cover the appalling international and domestic commercial trade in lorisids for bushmeat and medicinal purposes, and as pets and photo props in social media, the latter particularly affecting the lorises. In South-east Asia, horrific numbers of slow lorises are cruelly traded in wildlife markets for medicinal purposes. The chapters also cover the considerable efforts underway to combat this abuse and slaughter. This is a benchmark compendium for our understanding of these creatures—a small but truly fascinating outpost of the primate radiation.