Do you know any nocturnal primate? Loris is a common name for that kind. Worldwide, there are two types of Loris found: Slender Loris and Slow Loris. In Bangladesh, we have only the slow loris which is known as Bengal Slow Loris. In total 8 species of slow loris found in the world and among those Bengal slow loris is the largest one. An interesting feature of this species is that they are the only venomous primate that exists in the world, and even more interestingly the venom gland is present in the elbow. Such many more interesting information we came to know from Mr Hasan Al Razi Chayan- a young wildlife conservationist, and a devoted slow loris researcher.

At present, being as a native species, the regional status is listed as Endangered for Bengal slow loris, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. In our country, currently, the home of Bengal slow loris is only in mixed evergreen forests of Northeast and Southeast region. In Bangladesh we know them as 'shy monkey', locally it's called 'Khabrang'. But the sad part is - their existence is in threats due to the loss of habitat and other anthropogenic constraints.

To enlighten the knowledge of Bengal slow loris, Noazesh Knowledge Centre arranged an event "WildHour: A Nocturnal Primate" on August 31, 2018. Mr Hassan Al RaziChayan was the key speaker of this event who plays the role of Principal Researcher at Bangladesh Slow Loris Research and Conservation Project.

Sharmin Bulbul, Strategy and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of WildTeam gave the welcome speech describing the vision, the contribution of NKC for nature and wildlife.

Later, Mr Chayan shared his research experience and unveiled many interesting information about slow loris. He has been working for three years with this only nocturnal primate of Bangladesh. With an eloquent presentation Mr Chayan showed the present status, distribution, habitat and diet of this animal. His research is based on the activity pattern, population status, threats and conservation of Bengal slow loris at northeastern region of Bangladesh.

To make the knowledge sharing part more interesting, Mr Chayan displayed two videos of Bengal slow loris captured during his research. He also shared some photographs of field work which exemplify their hard work, success and challenges they faced during their research work.

At one part of the event, Mr Chayan shared some of their encouraging voluntary works to raise awareness among people about wildlife. Those were - painting competition among school students, rescuing and releasing wild animals, celebrating special animal days and cleaning programs in national parks.

It was a worthwhile WildHour because of the presence of experienced and inquisitive minds at the same place. Students from different universities joined this event. Members of NKC and WildTeam moderated and operated the event's functions.The event ended with giving motivation among the participants to work for every wild creature of our country in every possible way.

Meherun Niger Sultana| WildTeam| Intern