Slender Lorises are without doubt one of the most bizarre animals you will likely encounter in Sri Lanka. Seeing these alien-looking nocturnal primates for yourself is something that you have to do if you are visiting the country and interested in wildlife! Follow our guide to go find and experience the enigmatic grey slender loris for yourself at Popham’s Arboretum, Dambulla.
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What is a loris?
Lorises are a group of bizarre large-eyed alien-looking nocturnal primates belonging to the subfamily “Lorinae”. And if that isn’t enough, they are also one of the few venomous mammals that exist on our planet!
There are 11 living species of loris, split into 3 main groups: the slender lorises, slow lorises and pygmy slow lorises. Lorises are only found in Asia, specifically in India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
All lorises are strictly nocturnal and arboreal, meaning that they are active during the night and live in trees. They generally sleep during the day and only come out at night from their tree-hollow or leaf-made nests. They are extremely slow moving and will slowly scour the trees in the hunt for insects and other small creatures, though some species also eat fruit and plant material.
Threats to Lorises
Loris populations have declined significantly across the board in recent history due to poaching and habitat loss. In terms of poaching, this comes from 1) the erroneous belief that lorises have magical healing properties to be used in traditional medicine, and 2) for the illegal pet trade – both of which have caused over 80% reductions in the populations of all species of loris over the past few generations.
Lorises in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is home to just two species of loris – the slender lorises: the grey slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus) and the red slender loris (Loris tardigradus).
Slender lorises are the most carnivorous of all lorises, with their primary food source being insects. Though the grey slender loris will also occasionally eat bird eggs, lizards, and some berries and plant material.
Where can you see grey slender lorises in central Sri Lanka?
Popham’s Arboretum: A Haven for the Grey Slender Loris
Popham’s Arboretum is a beautiful botanical garden full of hundreds of species of trees, around 25 mammal species and over 80 species of bird. It is located in Dambulla in central Sri Lanka, which is a place on most people’s Sri Lanka travel itineraries. Because of this, and being just a 10-minute drive from the Dambulla Bus Stand, or a 30-minute drive from Sigiriya, we highly recommend it for any wildlife enthusiasts visiting Sri Lanka.
Check out Popham’s Arboretum on TripAdvisor here.
Despite Popham’s Arboretum not being very well-known compared to other wildlife destinations in Sri Lanka, we think it should absolutely be on the list of every wildlife lover travelling through the country. There aren’t many places like this that can give you such a high chance of seeing lorises in the wild.
Night Safari Tour
The only way you can see the grey slender lorises at Popham’s Arboretum is by doing one of the guided night safaris. This is due to the difficulty of navigating through the confusing and dark wilderness trail during the night, so you must be accompanied by an experienced guide.
The safaris usually run between 7pm and 10pm, so it is probably best to try to arrive just before 7pm. Once you arrive at the gate and tell the staff that you would like to do the slender loris night safari, you will be assigned a guide for your tour.
The safari itself begins once you have got your guide and settled the payment with them (2500 LKR [£6.40] per person as of January 2024). The guides there are experienced naturalists with extremely keen and trained eyes for spotting lorises. They will walk you along the footpaths through the forests, red torch in hand, scanning the branches for a large pair of glowing eyes or a grey blob in the trees.
Our tour lasted around 1 and a half hours and we were fortunate enough to spot 5 slender lorises in total! It was an incredible evening searching the forests and chatting to the guides about the lorises – and we loved every minute of it!
Guide and Tour Cost
Entry to Popham’s Arboretum requires a guide fee due to the inaccessibility of walking around the massive wilderness trails by yourself during the dark. It cost us 2500LKR (~£6.40) per person as of January 2024, which we thought was well worth it for the opportunity to see slender lorises in the wild!
The guides are experienced naturalists and have a brilliant eye for finding the lorises, so you have a great chance of seeing them.
Tips on seeing them
The experienced guides are brilliant at spotting the lorises and will do 99% of the work for you. Just keep your eyes peeled and scanning the trees and branches lit up by the guide’s torchlight. But, in all likelihood, because of their experience and them being the ones holding the torches, they will spot the loris before you do.
In terms of what to look out for – you will most likely see the glow of the lorises large eyes as they reflect the red torchlight back at you. That, or you will see the grey outline of their bodies in amongst the branches.
Conclusion
If you are interested in wildlife or just find lorises extremely cute and adorable, then look no further. Popham’s Arboretum is one of the best and most reliable places to see the enigmatic Grey Slender Loris in the wild in Sri Lanka.
It is conveniently located at just a 10 minute drive from central Dambulla and the Dambulla Bus Stand, as well as being only 30 minutes from Sigiriya. These are both popular locations on the majority of people’s travel itineraries, so if you are visiting Sri Lanka, make sure you add a Popham’s Arboretum Night Safari onto your itinerary.
The guided tour costs around 2500LKR or £6.40 per person, so it is reasonably priced and you have an almost guaranteed chance of getting to see a Grey Slender Loris in the wild. We totally recommend it for all wildlife lovers!
Drop us a comment if you are planning on seeing slender lorises in Sri Lanka or if you have already visited Popham’s Arboretum and seen them for yourselves!
For more Sri Lanka wildlife and travel content including destination guides, tips and tricks, and wildlife photography, visit here: Sri Lanka.
Happy travels!
