Home Range, Activity Budgets and Habitat Use in the Bengal Slow Loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) in Bangladesh

Tropical forests in Asia have undergone massive declines over the last five decades due to deforestation and subsequent conversion to forest monocultures, agricultural land or other forms of land use (FAO, 2016; Giam, 2017; Hughes, 2017; Meijide et al., 2018; Vijay et al., 2016). The remnant patches of forest are typically degraded, with relatively low tree species diversity compared to the original primary forests (FAO, 2016; Giam, 2017; Vijay et al., 2016). Forests appear to be the most degraded in the Indian subcontinent, with over one billion people occupying the extra-forest matrix, allowing limited or no gene flow between forest patches for some groups of biota (Reddy et al., 2016). This has also created a mosaic of agroforestry–forest patch landscapes where a surprisingly wide range of animals persist, sometimes in large numbers (e.g. Estrada et al., 2017; Flesher, 2015; Nakashima et al., 2013; Nekaris et al., 2017; Pliosungnoen et al., 2010). Canopies are often occupied by a variety of medium to large squirrel species (Squiridae), palm civets (Viverridae) and diurnal and nocturnal primates (Khan, 2015). Collectively, these arboreal species help in pollination of flowers, seed dispersal and sometimes even pest control, suggesting that these assemblages perform important ecosystem functions (Estrada et al., 2012; Estrada et al., 2017; McConkey and O’Farrill, 2016). Unfortunately, current trends in forest destruction and modification forebode rapid and irreversible decline of many species, especially primates, that could lead to loss of forest functions and regeneration potential (Estrada et al., 2017; Johns and Skorupa, 1987; McConkey and O’Farrill, 2016).