Did you know that the gray slender loris can hold onto a branch for days without cramps to escape a predator? It also has an amazing special long claw on the second digit of it's feet called the toilet claw, which is used for cleaning itself. The gray slender loris is a curious looking primate with big bulging eyes and slender limbs used for climbing trees. It's a nocturnal animal and it's big eyes are used for seeing at night so that it can catch insects. Read on for some intriguing facts about this amazing animal.

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The gray slender loris is a gray primate that’s 26 cm long. It has four subspecies, L lydekkerianus: malabricus, lydekkerianus, nordicus, and grandis. The gray slender loris has tiny hands with a special network of blood vessels that allow it to hold on to branches for days without pain and it can stay completely still to escape a predator. The gray slender loris has special eyes that allow it to see in darkness because a reflective layer in it's eyes reflects light through the retina.
 
The eyes of the insectivorous gray slender loris allow it to see well in order to catch insects in very low levels of light. Because the gray slender loris eats insects they are very useful and helpful to humans in the area. It lives in the forests of Southern India and of most of Sri Lanka where it can find many different varieties of insects and food. It prefers degraded forests near human habitation and has also been found in dry shrub jungles, and in plantations. 

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The forests of Southern India and Sri Lanka have many insects for the gray slender loris to feed on. The population of gray slender lorises survived very well up until humans started deforestation, and building roads in the area where they live. The gray slender loris is losing it’s habitat and its population is decreasing because of that. The red slender loris is a very similar species that lives in the same area as the gray slender loris, so both species probably have the same predators, and they are preyed on by small carnivores in addition to being killed by humans.
 

The gray slender loris eats mainly insects like flies and other flying insects. It also eats many other types of things including grasshoppers, fruits, bird’s eggs and leaves. It catches insects by reaching into the air and very rapidly catching them in it’s hand. To catch insects on the ground it hangs from a tree and uses it’s feet to pick them up. The gray slender loris is a very lucky animal. It doesn't have many predators but it has many types of prey. 

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Humans are the main things that are killing off the gray slender loris even though they don't eat it. The main reason that the gray slender loris population is decreasing is because of human development. They are often killed by drivers as road-kill and are electrocuted on un-insulated power lines. One thing that is very cruel to them is that they are captured a lot for use in illegal pet trade and parts of their body have been used for superstitious rituals. 
 

The red slender loris is a very similar species that lives in the exact same environment as the gray slender loris and they are both preyed on by owls, snakes and other small carnivores. Their amazing hands allow them to hold onto a branch for days and they have the uncanny ability of staying perfectly still for days so a nearby predator doesn't notice it. 
 

The gray slender loris is a very unique and interesting animal. The way it catches flies is very amazing; it just snaps its hands out very rapidly to reach the insect and grasp it. The toilet claw the gray slender loris also has for grooming is a very useful adaptation for it. The forests of southern India and Sri Lanka contain many very unique and interesting animals and the gray slender loris is definitely one of them. The gray slender loris is an amazing primate with an unique appearance and lifestyle.