10月20日——班卡慢狐猴（Bangka slow loris）是地球上最奇特的灵长类动物之一：这种行动缓慢的树栖动物具有毒性。它曾被列为极度濒危物种，甚至被认为已经灭绝；最后一次被科学记录是在20世纪30年代。然而如今，科学家们在印度尼西亚的热带岛屿班卡岛上重新发现了这种动物。
Oct 20 - The Bangka slow loris is one of Earth's most exotic primates, a slow-moving tree dweller that happens to be venomous. It was listed as critically endangered and possibly extinct, last scientifically documented in the 1930s, but now has been rediscovered on the tropical Indonesian island of Bangka.
在一项新的研究中，科学家们表示：近年来，一个动物救援组织在班卡岛上发现了90多只班卡慢狐猴，该岛位于苏门答腊岛的东南沿海。其中大部分动物已被放归野外。
Scientists revealed in a new study that an animal rescue organization came across more than 90 Bangka slow loris individuals in recent years on Bangka, located off the southeastern coast of Sumatra. Most were returned to the wild.
“班卡慢狐猴仍然存活着，”奥地利维也纳Haus des Meeres Aqua Terra动物园的自然保护与生物多样性管理研究生蒂蒙·格劳（Timon Glaw）说。他是发表在《Spixiana》期刊上的这项研究的作者之一。
"The Bangka slow loris is still alive," said Timon Glaw, a graduate student in nature conservation and biodiversity management at the Haus des Meeres Aqua Terra Zoo in Vienna, Austria, and one of the authors of the study published in the journal Spixiana.
格劳指出，这些被救援的动物来自班卡岛的不同地区，这表明尽管栖息地遭到严重破坏且长期缺乏科学研究，该物种仍能在某些区域存活下来。他的解释是：班卡岛的生态环境因锡矿开采以及为种植油棕榈而进行的土地开垦而遭到破坏。
The rescued animals came from different parts of Bangka, showing the species has survived in several areas despite extensive habitat destruction and decades of scientific neglect, Glaw said. Its habitat has been diminished due to tin mining and land clearing for oil palm plantations, Glaw said.
“让我感到特别惊讶的是，这样一种独特且迷人的灵长类动物竟然在近一个世纪的时间里几乎未受到任何科学关注。它的重新发现也为其他被认为已经灭绝的物种带来了希望——也许它们仍然存在于科学家们几十年未曾探索过的地区。毕竟，班卡岛距离世界最大城市之一雅加达仅有一小时的飞行时间，”格劳说道。
"What I find particularly astonishing is that such a charismatic and distinctive primate has received so little scientific attention for nearly a century. Its rediscovery also offers hope that other species feared to be extinct may still survive in places where scientists have not looked for decades. After all, Bangka is just about an hour flight from Jakarta, one of the largest cities in the world," Glaw said.
班卡慢狐猴的学名为Nycticebus bancanus，属于体型较小的夜行性灵长类动物，拥有红棕色的毛皮、独特的面部花纹以及大眼睛。与其他能够快速在树枝间移动的灵长类动物（如猿类、猴子和狐猴）不同，班卡慢狐猴在树林中的行动显得缓慢而谨慎。
The Bangka slow loris, whose scientific name is Nycticebus bancanus, is a relatively small, nocturnal primate, with reddish-brown fur, distinctive facial markings and large eyes. It moves slowly and deliberately in the trees, unlike other arboreal primates such as apes, monkeys and lemurs that can move quickly across branches.
在灵长类进化谱系中，班加懒猴与马达加斯加的狐猴和非洲的伽拉哥的亲缘关系更为密切，而非与猴子或猿类——或人类。
In the primate evolutionary lineage, the Bangka slow loris is more closely related to the lemurs of Madagascar and the galagos of Africa than to monkeys or apes — or people.
“我们研究中讨论的班加最后的历史记录可追溯至20世纪30年代初，更准确地说是1930年至1932年期间。数十年来，没有可靠信息表明该物种是否在该岛上幸存，”格劳说。
"The last historical scientific records from Bangka discussed in our study date back to the early 1930s, more precisely to the period between 1930 and 1932. For decades, there was no reliable information on whether the species survived on the island," Glaw said.
2020年，负责监测物种状况的世界自然保护联盟将班加懒猴列为极危且可能已经灭绝。该物种还被保护组织Re:wild列为“失落的灵长类”之一。
In 2020, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the organization that monitors the status of species, deemed the Bangka slow loris critically endangered and possibly extinct. The species also was listed as one of the "lost primates" by the conservation group Re:wild.
有毒的咬伤 与世界上其他懒猴物种一样，它具有毒性——这是哺乳动物中罕见的特征。懒猴会从肘部附近的特殊腺体分泌物质，受到威胁时会抬起手臂，将分泌物与唾液混合，舔舐腺体，然后通过咬伤注入毒液。
A VENOMOUS BITE Like the world's other slow loris species, it is venomous — a rare trait among mammals. Slow lorises produce a secretion from specialized glands near their elbows, which they mix with saliva by raising their arms when threatened and then licking the glands before delivering the venom through a bite.
“毒液可能在人类身上引起严重的过敏反应，甚至可能危及生命。对其他懒猴物种的研究表明，毒液主要用于与其他懒猴的冲突，尽管它也可能在防御捕食者和寄生虫方面发挥作用，”格劳说。
"The venom can cause severe allergic reactions in humans, potentially even life-threatening ones. Research on other slow loris species suggests that the venom is used primarily in conflicts with other lorises, although it may also serve defensive functions against predators and parasites," Glaw said.
其饮食尚不清楚，但格劳表示，它很可能像其他懒猴物种一样，以昆虫、树胶、花蜜和其他植物部分为食。
Its diet is not well understood, but it likely feeds on insects, tree gums, nectar and other plant parts like other slow loris species, Glaw said.
它拥有由向前突出的下牙形成的齿梳，主要用于梳理毛发、刮取树皮以获取树胶以及在咬伤时注入毒液。它还有一种位于主舌下方的特殊第二舌，有助于清洁齿梳。
It possesses a toothcomb formed by forward-projecting lower teeth, used mainly for grooming, gouging of tree bark for gum and delivering the venom during bites. It also has a specialized second tongue beneath the main tongue that helps clean the toothcomb.
格劳表示，2015年至2025年间，印度尼西亚保护组织Alobi野生动物救援中心记录了该岛不同地点的90多只班加懒猴。
Between 2015 and 2025, the Indonesian conservation organization Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center documented more than 90 Bangka slow lorises from different localities across the island, Glaw said.
许多个体是从房屋、花园、种植园或道路上获救的，而其他个体则遭受了严重伤害，特别是因电线受伤，尽管接受了治疗，仍有少数个体死亡，格劳说。在康复后，其中86只被放归到合适的自然栖息地，格劳说。
Many were rescued from houses, gardens, plantations or roads, while others suffered severe injuries, particularly from electrical wires, with a few dying despite treatment, Glaw said. Following their recovery, 86 of them were released into suitable natural habitats, Glaw said.
“当前最紧迫的优先事项是保护邦加岛上剩余的天然森林，防止其进一步遭到破坏，特别是通过锡矿开采和油棕种植园的扩张。我们还需要系统的实地调查，以确定该物种仍在何处生存以及其种群规模有多大，”格劳说。
"The most urgent priority is to protect the remaining natural forests on Bangka from further destruction, particularly through tin mining and the expansion of oil palm plantations. We also need systematic field surveys to determine where the species still survives and how large its populations are," Glaw said.
“每个物种都是数百万年进化的结果，也是复杂生态网络的一部分，失去邦加懒猴将意味着失去某种真正不可替代的事物，”格劳说。
"Every species is the result of millions of years of evolution and part of a complex ecological network, and losing the Bangka slow loris would mean losing something truly irreplaceable," Glaw said.