Guwahati: A baby slow loris, an endangered nocturnal primate, was rescued from Mohmaiki village in Assam’s Bokakhat this week after being chased by stray dogs, raising concerns about habitat fragmentation and shrinking forest corridors around Kaziranga National Park.
The infant was spotted climbing along a roadside in front of a residence when barking dogs surrounded it. The disturbance drew villagers outdoors, where they discovered the frightened primate struggling to escape.
“We had never seen such an animal so close to our homes,” a resident said. “When the dogs started attacking it, we understood it was helpless. We immediately drove the dogs away and informed the authorities.”
Forest personnel attached to Kaziranga National Park arrived shortly after being alerted and took custody of the rescued animal. The baby slow loris was later handed over to a Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre for medical examination and care.
However, wildlife experts say that the rescue is not an isolated incident but reflects a broader environmental issue.
“The presence of a slow loris inside a residential area at night is not normal behaviour, it is ecological distress,” a forest official stated. “These primates are arboreal and depend on dense, connected forest canopies. When those canopies are fragmented, they are forced to descend to the ground.”
Slow lorises in Northeast India are classified as endangered due to habitat loss, illegal wildlife trade, electrocution from exposed power lines, road accidents, and attacks by domestic or stray dogs.
Conservationists note that the rapid expansion of settlements, infrastructure development, and clearing of forest patches around protected areas are reducing safe movement corridors for wildlife.
“When trees are cut and forest patches become isolated, animals lose their natural highways in the sky,” a conservationist explained. “They are bound to enter human habitations in search of connectivity, food, or safety. What we are witnessing is not intrusion by wildlife, it is displacement.”
Experts at the rehabilitation centre suspect the infant may have strayed from its mother during nocturnal movement, indicating the possible presence of a slow loris family in the surrounding area.
Field assessments are expected to determine whether nearby habitat degradation contributed to the incident.
Environmental observers say Assam’s biodiversity-rich zones are increasingly becoming areas of conflict where human expansion overlaps with fragile ecosystems.
The region, known globally for its wildlife, is seeing more instances of animal displacement, from primates to large mammals, as forest buffers shrink.
“This is a warning sign,” a wildlife researcher noted. “If endangered species are appearing on village roads, it tells us that forest integrity is under threat. Without restoring corridors and strengthening habitat protection, such encounters will only increase.”
Forest officials have urged residents in fringe areas near forest zones to remain vigilant and report wildlife sightings immediately. They noted that community intervention in this case prevented what could have been another loss of an endangered species.
Experts say the rescue of the infant primate has become more than a local incident; it illustrates Assam’s narrowing ecological margins, where the loss of trees and broken canopies increasingly bring vulnerable wildlife closer to human settlements.