Rare slow loris twins born in UK zoo

They might look cute... but they can bite!

Have you heard of a slow loris? You might have seen them on the internet because their big eyes make them look very cute.

Now, a UK zoo is celebrating the birth of not just one, but two of the rare and endangered creatures.

The tiny twins were born at Amazon World Zoo Park on the Isle of Wight, and are pygmy slow lorises.

They were born as part of a breeding programme to help the species and are the fourth pair of loris to be born at the zoo since December 2020.

A spokesperson from the zoo said the team were "so excited" and "proud" to be part of the breeding programme.

Pygmy slow lorises are nocturnal and often sleep curled into a ball in a tree

Pygmy slow lorises belong to a family of animals called primates, which means they are closely related to animals like lemurs, monkeys and apes.

In the wild they come from the rainforests and bamboo thickets of Vietnam, Laos, eastern Cambodia and southern China.

They are classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list, as the species is estimated to have undergone a decline in its population of more than 50% over the last 24 years.

A Zoo spokesperson said: "Breeding endangered species like these loris are what zoos like ours are all about, ensuring that there is a captive population whilst numbers struggle in the wild."

According to the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) they are the only ones to be born in the UK in the last 12 months, during which period only seven other zoos in Europe have bred Lorises.

Top facts about slow lorises:

• Slow lorises are noctural animals

• They have a venoumous bite which is harmful to humans

• They use their wee to mark their territory

What do you think of these cute creatures? Let us know in the comments...