There are tons of stories you can write about slow lorises. We can literally talk about everything—their homerange, their diet preference, their cute behavior, and their interaction with each other. But have you heard about their love stories? I bet you haven’t. I am no expert when it comes to love, but let me spill some juices about their relationship (Disclaimer: majority of the story I write here is incredibly unscientific).
First, let’s talk about Lupak. If I have to describe her love story in one word, it has to be “The ‘Uncertain’ Love”. Lupak has this complicated relationship with Dindi. Dindi seems in love with Lupak, and so does Lupak, even when she sometimes did the “push-and-pull” trick. I saw them grooming each other, ‘hanging out’ together in the bamboo branch, playing and snuggling with each other.
Although it sounds lovely, it seems that Lupak didn’t enjoy it. At that night when I observed them, she left Dindi behind and sometimes she avoided Dindi’s attention. At first I couldn’t understand why would Lupak did that, but now I can see why. Dindi has this weird homerange and behavior. Sometimes he slept together with Lupak, but the next day he would go away from the sleeping site to another part of the village, leaving Lupak behind. He was gone for nearly a month before he came back to Lupak. Now we’re still wondering whether Lupak is pregnant or not. As a fine lady, Lupak needs a certainty: Is it a fling or is it a true love?
Move on from them, let’s talk about the trio LN, Lucu, and Rufio. If you are expecting a love triangle between them, you were mistaken. Rufio knows about “the bro code”, so he respects the relationship between LN and Lucu. I have encountered two social interaction between the three of them, one between LN and Lucu, and another one between LN and Rufio.
When I observed LN and Lucu, they reminded me of a first love (because their interaction is childishly cute—just like a first love). I saw them play—they were playfully biting each other, hugging, and sometimes playing tag (because after one play session, one of them would leave and the other one would follow, and it happened continously before they start another play session). The difference about LN-Lucu interaction and LN-Rufio interaction was that I could sense LN somehow tried to court Lucu. The tracker also pointed out that when LN groomed Lucu, LN always tried to lick the female organ of Lucu. It is different with LN-Rufio interaction which more like a wrestling competition.
Another trio, Ombe, Tereh and Solo have a completely different story. They live within a similar homerange. Ombe and Tereh are neighbours, but they don’t get along with each other. I was flabbergasted when I saw Ombe fell from the 12-meters-tall tree, trying to run away from Tereh who was angry because Ombe entered her homerange. Probably Tereh was still waiting for her unreliable husband, Maaf. Maaf is like a husband that is in the army, we don’t know when he is going to come back. Maaf recently behaves really strange—he ran from the villager’s farm to the forest. But the last time I heard about Tereh, Tereh was spotted interacted with Solo. Hopefully she can forget Maaf and start a fresh journey with Solo.
Now, I shall introduce you to my favorite loris, Mimi! Mimi is a mother of three—Jimi, Indomi and Doremi. Mimi’s husband is Jogja, but his recent whereabout is unknown, so her current love story is mysterious. Nonetheless, Mimi is a loving mother. Doremi is still an infant, so Mimi is still carrying her anywhere except when she forages for food. Indomi is already a juvenile, so Indomi is capable of searching for its own food, but Indomi is still following Mimi. Jimi is a full grown up so he is no longer needs Mimi, but his homerange is near Mimi’s.
In one occassion, I was lucky enough to watch Mimi and Doremi sleeping together. They were huddling and then Doremi feed on Mimi. Mimi groomed Doremi for a while before Indomi joined them. Then they were involved in a cute grooming session! They took turns to groom each other—sometimes Mimi received grooming from her children, sometimes she groomed Doremi. Indomi also groomed Doremi. What an adorable family!
The last trio is Fernando, Shirley and Shanti. Sadly, I don’t really know about their story, as I rarely observe them. All I know is Shirley and Shanti are in a good relationship, unlike Ombe and Tereh. They sometimes sleep in the same sleeping site. Fernando and Shanti sometimes interacted with each other too.
Lastly, I have to mention these lorises, two single fellows, Acil and Xena. They both like to play by themselves, so no information about their love life. Let’s all pray for Acil and Xena so they get to be together soon (or does Acil already have partner, probably an uncollar?). I also hope for all the single fellas out there so you guys too can get a partner in time for Valentine’s Day!
