Older brothers and sisters, they play with you, and keep you safe even if you can drive them a little insane. Much like humans and other social primates, slow lorises live in socially monogamous family groups. This means that their social structure is made up of one social father, one mother, and her offspring. Juveniles can remain with their families until they are approximately 17 months old, which is a very long developmental period for their body size. The S Family consists of mom Shirley, dad Fernando, Star, and the newest member of the family, Solo. Every member of the family helps to take care of the youngest infant. As I’ve spent the past two months observing Star, the eldest offspring of the S Family, I’ve noticed that there is a very sweet relationship between her and her younger sibling Solo.

Here is a photo of Star taken in December 2017, while she is much older now, this photo is very similar to the size that Solo is now.

Here is the father of the S Family – Fernando

Here is the mother of the S Family – Shirley

Star and Solo: Siblings

While Star does spend time with Shirley and Fernando, she spends most of her time with Solo. The two of them can often be found playing together in the bamboo, or sleeping together in the same sleep site. When slow lorises play together they play fight together, tumbling and wrestling through the branches.

Star doesn’t only just play with Solo; she also takes care of Solo and looks out for them. Recently, Solo decided to take a rest in the bamboo and curled up in a sleeping ball. Rather than leaving to continue feeding, Star proceeded to remain alert nearby. When she did leave her post, she constantly returned to check on Solo, making sure that they were okay.

Star also takes the time to groom Solo, which helps to solidify their social bond. The two of them spend tons of time exploring together. Star will often lead Solo through the bamboo in search of delicious insects. She is much more cautious then Solo, whom I’ve often observed climbing down to the very lowest parts of the bamboo. Star will often remain above, watching and making sure that her younger sibling stays safe.

Importance of Family

All of this social behaviour further shows how unsuitable slow lorises are as pets. Many pet slow lorises are kept alone, which can only cause immense psychological damage from lack of social interaction. Younger individuals not only need their parents, but also their older siblings in order to learn behaviours that will help them survive in the wild. If you want to help protect slow loris siblings like Star and Solo, you can adopt their father Fernando, and continue to keep slow lorises wild and free. KEELEY MAYNARD