The lorikeets belong to a rather large family of primates. These arboreal inhabitants are relatives of the family Halagaceae, and together they form the infra-range of loriformes. All representatives of this genus are included in the “Red Book” as vulnerable or endangered species.
Lemur lory in the wild
A slow and very cautious animal, it leads a mostly nocturnal lifestyle and is rather rarely grouped together. This family includes four genera and about ten species, but the thick lory is the most popular.
Characteristics and Description
The lorikeets have a thick and soft coat, which most often has a gray or brown coloration with a darker shade in the back area. Characteristic are large eyes and small-sized ears that may be hidden under the fur.
The thumbs are opposed to the rest, and the index fingers can be classified as rudimentary organs. The tail is short or absent entirely. Depending on the species, torso length varies between 17-40 cm, with a body weight of 0.3-2.0 kg.
In nature, the most common species are the following:
Small or pygmy lory with a body length of 18-21 cm;
slow lory with a body length of 26-38 cm;
the Javanese lory with a body length of 24-38 cm;
The fat lory with a body length of 18-38 cm.
Habitat.
Lorikeets naturally inhabit the tropical forests of Central Africa, and are also common in parts of Southern and Southeastern Asia. The little lory inhabits the forest areas of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. The distribution area of the slow lory is the territory of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo islands.
The Javanese lory is endemic. It inhabits the central and western part of the Indonesian island of Java. The fat lorie is native to the rainforests of Bangladesh, northeast India, Indochina, and western Indonesia, and is also found on the northern edge of China and in the eastern part of the Philippines.
Lemur Nutrition
Under natural conditions, the standard diet of the lemur includes both living organisms and plant foods. The exotic animal eats a variety of crickets, lizards, small birds and their eggs.
A peculiarity of the lory is its ability to use even poisonous caterpillars and insects as food, as well as to consume resinous secretions of tropical trees. Plant food is also very important in the lemur’s diet. The animal easily eats fruits, vegetables, herbs, as well as flowering parts of various tropical plants.
Breeding peculiarities
The exotic animal is characterized by selectivity in finding a mate and creating a family. The lemur lori may search for its mate for quite a long time, remaining alone for an extended period of time. The gestation period slightly exceeds six months, after which one or two cubs are born. The born cubs are already covered with relatively thick fur, which serves as an excellent protection against adverse external influences. The cub’s weight usually does not exceed 100-120 grams, but may vary slightly depending on the species’ peculiarities.
For a month and a half or two months, the females carry the cubs on their backs. The little animals cling tenaciously to the thick fur on their mother’s belly, but may periodically move to their father’s fur, returning to the female only to feed. The duration of lactation of the lorrie lemur does not usually exceed five months. Little lemurs become independent only by the age of one and a half, when they are fully mature and receive all vital skills from their parents.
