Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2022 | 14(7): 21449–21452
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893
(Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7986.14.7.21449-21452
#7986 | Received 24 April 2022 | Final
received 27 June 2022 | Finally accepted 03 July 2022
Effects of
a Bengal Slow Loris Nycticebus bengalensis (Primates: Lorisidae)
bite: a case study from Murlen
National Park, Mizoram, India
Amit Kumar Bal 1,
Anthony J. Giordano 2 & Sushanto Gouda
3
1,2 The Society for
the Preservation of Endangered Carnivores and their
International Ecological Study (SPECIES), PO Box 7403, Ventura, CA 93006, USA.
3 Amity Institute of Forestry and
Wildlife, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201313, India.
1 amitamu096@gmail.com, 2 species1@hotmail.com,
3 sushantogouda@gmail.com (corresponding author)
Abstract: Lorisids are the only known venomous
primates. Threatened by habitat loss and pet trade, lorises and the effects of
their bite, have received little attention to date. Given the growing number of
accounts of bites by lorises on humans and paucity of information on their
venom, here we present a case study on the context and results of a Bengal Slow
Loris bite that occurred in the vicinity of Murlen
National Park, Mizoram, India.
Keywords: Awareness, conservation, Lorisids, Murlen village,
northeastern India, threatened species, victim.
Editor: Mewa Singh, University of Mysore, Mysuru, India. Date of publication: 26 July
2022 (online & print)
Citation: Bal, A.K., A.J. Giordano &
S. Gouda (2022).
Effects of a Bengal Slow Loris Nycticebus bengalensis (Primates: Lorisidae)
bite: a case study from Murlen National Park,
Mizoram, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 14(7): 21449–21452. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.7986.14.7.21449-21452
Copyright: © Bal et al. 2022. Creative Commons Attribution
4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and
distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the
author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: S.P.E.C.I.E.S. (Society for the Preservation
of Endangered Carnivores
and their International Ecological Study), California,
USA.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to
S.P.E.C.I.E.S. (Society for the Preservation
of Endangered Carnivores and their International Ecological Study),
California, USA for funding the project during which we encountered the loris
and recorded the incidence. We are also grateful to the slow loris bite victim
for sharing his ordeal and giving his consent to prepare this manuscript.
The Bengal or Northern Slow Loris
Nycticebus bengalensis
is an arboreal strepsirrhine primate (Lorisidae) and
one of the eight species in the same genus. Found in the tropical evergreen,
semi-evergreen, tropical mixed-deciduous, and sub-tropical broadleaf forests of
southeastern Asia (Choudhury 2001; Radhakrishna et al. 2006), it is part of a
family that includes the only known venomous primate species (Choudhury 2001;
Nijman et al. 2014). Slow lorises are distributed across northeastern India,
eastern Bangladesh, southern China, Myanmar, northern and central Vietnam,
Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and possibly in northern Peninsular Malaysia (Nekaris et al. 2013; Nijman et al. 2014; Roos et al. 2014).
In India, N. bengalensis can be found in the
northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram,
Nagaland, and Tripura (Choudhury 1992, 2001; Kumar 2009; Das et al. 2016). It
is categorized as a Schedule I species under India’s Wildlife Protection Act,
1972, Appendix I species by CITES (Nekaris &
Nijman 2007) and is also listed as ‘Endangered’ as per the IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species (Nekaris et al. 2020).
Anthropogenic activities such as clearing of forests, forest fires, shifting
cultivation, hunting, poaching, pet trade, and importance given to
ethno-medicinal uses, all present direct and indirect threats to lorises, and
increase the risk of human encounters by several fold (Rowe 1996; Radhakrishna
et al. 2006; Nekaris et al. 2013; Kumar et al. 2014;
Perkin 2019; Lyngdoh et al. 2021). Cases of slow
loris getting electrocuted and frequent encounters in human dominant areas have
also increased in Mizoram due to recent incidences of forest fire in the state
(Sushanto Gouda pers. obs. since 2016). When threatened or disturbed, slow lorises
tend to bite using teeth resembling a ‘needle-like toothcomb’ and, in the
process, they release a venomous secretion obtained from licking a specialised brachial sebaceous gland (Rode-Margono & Nekaris 2015). Upon
mixing with its saliva, this secretion can cause anaphylactic shock in humans
and other mammals when bitten (Wilde 1972; Nekaris et
al. 2013; Gardiner et al. 2018). Over the past several decades, many cases of
bites by slow lorises have been reported, particularly in the past 10 years
(Wilde 1972; Kumar et al. 2014; Madani & Nekaris 2014; Inoue et al. 2021). Here we describe an
actual incident, which involved a Bengal Loris biting a person from Murlen village, a largely rural community located on the
periphery of Murlen National Park (MNP) in Mizoram,
India.
Study Area
This report originates from Murlen village (23.6710N, 93.2730E),
a fringe village located just outside MNP about 30 km from the Myanmar border.
MNP is a protected area of 100 km² which falls within the Indo-Burma
Biodiversity hotspot. Situated in the Champhai
district of Mizoram, the area is very close to the Chin Hills. MNP has six
fringe villages, including Murlen village, which has
a human population of 240 individuals. Locals here are dependent mainly on
agriculture, and practice the slash and burn cultivation method. The individual
loris discussed herein was eventually released back into the wild unharmed
after being rescued from the site where the incident occurred.
Case report
On 22 of January 2022, our team
visited a shifting cultivation area, approximately 4 km from Murlen village. This is an area where local people were
clearing the secondary forest for subsistence agriculture. During our visit, we
came upon a Bengal Slow Loris on a branch at the top of a Castanopsis
tribuloides tree (local name- Thing-sia). The slow loris was in the process of descending
the tree as it was about to be cut down (Image 1). Unfortunately, members of
the local community decided they were going to kill it, due in part to the fact
that no vegetation remained in the surrounding areas to which it could escape.
However, we intervened, offering to rescue and release it into MNP. After
dropping down to the ground, the loris tried to hide among branches that had
been felled from the tree. Before we could reach the spot where it was
‘hiding’, a local farmer (age 54) tried to capture it with his bare hands and
in the process he was bitten on the middle finger of his left hand. The animal
held fast for at least two minutes (Image 2) and after some struggle, we
forcibly extricated the finger also freeing the loris. The bite victim insisted
on pulling off some body hair from the loris and applied it to his wound, a
decision influenced by the local belief that slow loris hairs have great
medicinal value and can reduce further bleeding or ill effects. Eventually, AKB
placed a jacket over the loris after which it was temporarily placed into a
carry bag, made locally from old cotton clothing, for its own protection and
safety of everyone else. The bite victim also applied extract to the wound
ground from leaves of the plant Thunbergia
grandiflora (local name-Va-ko) (Image 3). We were told this was also to stop the
bleeding, and prevent further infection.
Approximately 15 minutes after
being bitten, the farmer began to experience severe stomach pain. This was
followed by chest pain, difficulty in breathing, nausea, headache, and
temporary loss of vision. His face started to swell especially his lips and he
began to feel cold. He also mentioned feeling a ‘flow of current’ around the
wound and even across his whole hand and then pain around his mouth. Because
the location was very remote (i.e., ~ 50 km from the nearest hospital in the
town of Champhai), we could provide no additional
medication to him. Upon consulting other farmers who were working in a nearby
forest, the bite victim was provided with 500 mg of Paracetamol (Acetaminophen:
a pain reliever), 250 mg of Avil (Pheniramine
maleate: an antihistamine), and some warm water. He then attempted to rest by
laying down, during which he was frequently spitting up, experiencing pain in
his neck, and was not able to talk.
After three hours of rest, the
farmer felt better and was able to walk back to the village. However, on his
way back, he complained of a headache and stomach pain. Upon reaching the
village, we went to the nearest forest adjacent to MNP, and safely released the
slow loris (Image 1). When we inquired about the health condition of the farmer
the next day, he had completely recovered with no symptoms of the slow loris’s
venom, nor did he need or ask for any additional medications.
Discussion
Although the slow loris is generally regarded
as a shy and cryptic species, it is also frequently exploited for the pet trade
through-out southeastern Asia (Nijman & Nekaris
2014; Lyngdoh et al. 2021). In the northeastern states
of India, locals are known to hunt and also consume the meat of slow loris,
whereas their fur is believed to have ethno-medical uses in treating excessive
bleeding and other injuries (Jugli et al. 2020). Most
cases involving a venomous loris bite on humans across southeastern Asia are
reported for Pygmy Slow Loris (N. pygmaeus),
although others have included the Bengal Slow Loris (N. bengalensis),
Philippine Slow Loris (N. menagensis) and
Javan Slow Loris (N. javanicus) (Gardiner et
al. 2018). In prior cases, the impact of Slow Loris bites has ranged from
passing or fleeting to more long lasting effects or complications, with healing
time ranging from one day to >8 months (Rode-Margono
& Nekaris 2015; Inoue et al. 2021). The farmer in
this case had previously also been bitten by a highly venomous red-tailed
Bamboo Pit Viper (Trimeresurus erythrurus) which could have led to greater
immunological resistance, and thus aided his speedy recovery. Avil (Pheniramine maleate) and paracetamol (Acetaminophen)
are not necessarily known to be prescribed drugs for loris bites, yet this
combination of antihistamine and pain reliever may have proven effective in
this case.
Finally, after interviewing some
local people from the village around MNP, we learned that in past years, there
were at least three cases of slow loris bites. We found that two of the victims
reported similar experiences to the one of the farmer we describe here, whereas
the other suffered no symptoms at all. Though the effect seemed in our case to
last only a few hours, considering the remoteness of the area and the lack of
medical facilities, enhanced awareness about the outcomes of potential human
interactions with lorises is important to the future safety of both primates
and humans. This includes the role that habitat loss, particularly due to
extensive shifting cultivation practices and logging, may play in the future
and inevitability of such interactions. The participation of both local
communities and forest departments is urgently needed to foster coexistence
with, and possibly even stewardship of, slow lorises.
Consent: Written informed consent was
obtained for the publication of this report and all accompanying images.
For images - -
click here (for full PDF)
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