Keri: A slender loris was found dead after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the Surla–Kankumbi road near the confluence of the Kalasa and Surla streams on Monday.Ramesh Zarmekar, a wildlife enthusiast from Surla, discovered the carcass. Zarmekar said slender lorises, primates native to India and Sri Lanka, are arboreal and nocturnal, foraging and travelling after dark. Their solitary nature and slow movement on the ground leave them vulnerable to collisions with speeding vehicles.Slender lorises usually inhabit trees and are not strong jumpers. Fragmented forest canopies or gaps between roadside trees force them to descend and crawl across roads.Forests near the proposed diversion and dam site of the Kalasa project at Kankumbi provide habitat for tigers, sloth bears, slender lorises and other wildlife. The habitat has faced a serious threat since the Goa–Belgaum road was built through Chorla Ghat and the Surla–Kankumbi area.
