Slender Loris (Kaadupapa)
Friday evening I along with Ajay,deponti and sanathreddy did a quick trip to a village in Tumkur where the endangered Slender Loris has been around for a few years now. Driving through the heavy traffic was quite bad but we managed to reach the place in time. We had a guide who knew the village well and was also working with the local club for Wildlife and Nature Conservation there.
We reached the village by 7pm. It was dark. So we had lost hopes for any daylight photography. We had carried our own powerful torches. As soon as we got down from the car and people were adjusting their camera settings, our guide called us for our first sighting (7.05 pm). A Slender Loris was sitting in one of the Bamboo Bushes.and its eyes reflected to our torch lights. After a few rounds of running, we did manage to see the eyes clearly but nothing other than that was visible. So we decided to move forward. Then after a few minutes (7.30 pm), we had our second sighting. deponti's Anti-Veerappan torch did give us one more opportunity of the eye sightings. So all of us rushed through the bushes to catch a glimpse of the entire creature. After some hunting with the torch light, we did manage to get a close view of this endangered species covering itself in the Latex plant and made an appearance. They are quite light-sensitive too. It was such an exciting moment for all us. People with me got some amazing shots too. A moment I regret for not having a camera :-). Anyway, we did have one more sighting before we decided to call it a day.
It was simply an amazing trip.Our guide said that Slender Loris (Kaadupapa in Kannada) exist in good numbers there. There aren't any registered cases of Poaching as such, but increasing traffic and electricity live wires have been some of the problems for the peaceful existence of the same.
Local Name : Kaadupapa
Location : Tumkur (65 kms from Bangalore)
Vegetation : Wild bushes, Latex Trees, Bamboo Bushes
Time of Sighting : 7.05 pm, 7.30 pm, 8.15 pm
Weather : Dry (post Monsoon)
Date/Month : 12th October 2007