The seasonal feeding ecology of the javan slow loris (<i>nycticebus javanicus</i>)

Cabana, Francis; Dierenfeld, Ellen S.; Wirdateti, Wirdateti; Donati, Giuseppe; Nekaris, K. A. I.

doi:10.1002/ajpa.23168

Cited by 82 publications

(41 citation statements)

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“…There is still much room for improvement on rehabilitation protocols of Nycticebus spp., including regarding nutrition. Rescue centres, typically restricted by budget, feed diets high in fruit and consequently high in soluble carbohydrates and low in fibre 26,36 . All slow loris species are characterised as exudativores, meaning they are specialised for ingesting tree gum made entirely of soluble fibres and other complex carbohydrates 37 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient-based diet modifications impact on the gut microbiome of the Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus)

Cabana

Clayton

Nekaris

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Environment and diet are key factors which shape the microbiome of organisms. There is also a disparity between captive and wild animals of the same species, presumably because of the change in diet. Being able to reverse the microbiome to the wild type is thus particularly important for the reintroduction efforts of Critically Endangered animals. The Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus) is a suitable model, being kept in the thousands within rescue centres throughout Southeast Asia. With next-generation sequencing, we show how a naturalistic diet impacts the gut microbiome of captive slow lorises (Primates: Nycticebus). A comparison of the microbiome of wild animals with captive animals that had been fed a standard captive or improved diet reveals strong microbiome differences between wild and captive animals; however, diet changes failed to alter the microbiome of captive populations significantly. Bifidobacterium was the most abundant genus in wild animals (46.7%) while Bacteroides (11.6%) and Prevotella (18.9%) were the most abundant in captive animals fed the captive and improved diets, respectively. Correlation analyses of nutrients with microbial taxa suggest important implications in using nutrition to suppress potential pathogens, with soluble fibre and water-soluble carbohydrates both being associated with opposing microbiome profiles. The improved diet significantly increased microbe diversity, which exemplifies the importance of high fibre diets; however, wild individuals had lower diversity, which contradicts recent studies. Detection of methanogens appeared to be dependent on diet and whether the animals were living in captivity or in the wild. This study highlights the potential of nutrition in modulating the microbiome of animals prior to release. Unexpectedly, the results were not as significant as has been suggested in recent studies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrient-based diet modifications impact on the gut microbiome of the Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus)

Cabana

Clayton

Nekaris

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…(Smith, ). Field research also confirms that gum is available all year long and is used as a staple food item for the pygmy slow loris, which spends on average 30% of its foraging time on gum ( Nycticebus pygmaeus : Starr & Nekaris, ), 66% of foraging time for the greater slow loris ( Nycticebus coucang : Wiens, ), 96% of foraging time for the Bengal slow loris: ( Nycticebus bengalensis: Das, Nekaris, & Bhattacharjee, ) and 52% of intake for the Javan slow loris ( Nycticebus javanicus : Cabana, Dierenfeld, Wirdateti, Donati, & Nekaris, ; Rode‐Margono, Nijman, & Wirdateti, ). These primates are kept in captivity as illegal pets, popular within Japan, Russia, Indonesia, Czech Republic and the United States (Nekaris & Jaffe, ) and in zoos worldwide as well as Asian rescue and rehabilitation centres.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Insects are high in protein, fat and phosphorous, while gum is high in carbohydrates, calcium and other minerals (Appendix 1) which may explain why they are eaten in similar proportions by wild Nycticebus (Cabana et al. ). The goal of creating a new captive diet resembling the nutrient intake of the wild diet was accomplished and allows us to use the wild‐type data as nutrient targets in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Papandayan, surrounding the village of Cipaganti in West Java, Indonesia. Observation methods and dietary ingredient and intake rate calculations are described elsewhere (Cabana et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…), 2% nectar and 29% plant parts by weight as per Cabana et al. (). We phased the animals to Diet 3 over 1 week, and fed it for a further 2 weeks before collecting data.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Trialling nutrient recommendations for slow lorises (Nycticebus spp.) based on wild feeding ecology

Cabana

Dierenfeld²,

Wirdateti

et al. 2017

Animal Physiology Nutrition

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Slow loris (Nycticebus spp.) captive diets have been based on routine and anecdotes rather than scientific fact. The growing body of evidence contradicts the high fruit diet supported by such anecdotes. Non-human primate nutrient requirements are grouped into new (based on the common marmoset Callithrix jacchus) or old world (based on rhesus macaques Macaca mulatta) primates. Slow lorises are known to suffer from many health ailments in captivity such as dental disease, obesity, wasting and kidney issues all of which have been linked to diet. This study aimed to estimate nutrient intake from free-ranging slow lorises and to determine whether this intake can be used as nutrient recommendations. We collected data of nutrient intake, food passage rate and digestibility of captive slow lorises on three diet treatments 1: current captive type diet which is mostly fruits, 2: wild-type diet made only of food items from their natural diet, 3: new diet made to reflect wild slow loris nutrient intake. In order to validate our nutrient recommendations, diets 2 and 3 would have to be significantly different to Diet 1 in terms of nutrients, but not different from each other. Captive diets were significantly higher in soluble carbohydrates and lower in minerals and fibre fractions than both diets 2 and 3. Diets 2 and 3 led to a significantly increased food passage time and to more effective fibre and calcium digestion compared to Diet 1. We also observed obese individuals lost weight and underweight individuals gained weight. Our nutrient recommendations have been validated by our trials, and new or old world monkey nutrient recommendations are not consistent with our results. Diets should be high in protein and fibre and low in soluble carbohydrates and fats.

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Chimpanzee feeding ecology and fallback food use in the montane forest of Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda

Matthews

Ridley

Niyigaba

et al. 2019

American J Primatol

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Almost all primates experience seasonal fluctuations in the availability of key food sources.However, the degree to which this fluctuation impacts foraging behavior varies considerably. Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, live in a montane forest environment characterized by lower primary productivity and resource diversity than low-elevation forests. Little is known about chimpanzee feeding ecology in montane forests, and research to date predominantly relies on indirect methods such as fecal analyses. This study is the first to use mostly observational data to examine how seasonal food availability impacts the feeding ecology of montane forest chimpanzees. We examine seasonal changes in chimpanzee diet and fallback foods (FBFs) using instantaneous scan samples and fecal analyses, supported by inspection of feeding remains. Chimpanzee fruit abundance peaked during the major dry season, with a consequent change in chimpanzee diet reflecting the abundance and diversity of key fruit species. Terrestrial herbaceous vegetation was consumed throughout the year and is defined as a "filler" FBF. In contrast to studies conducted in lower-elevation chimpanzee sites, figs (especially Ficus lutea) were preferred resources, flowers were consumed at seasonally high rates and the proportion of non-fig fruits in the diet were relatively low in the current study. These divergences likely result from the comparatively low environmental diversity and productivity in higher-elevation environments. K E Y W O R D Sdiet, eastern chimpanzee, high-elevation forest, seasonality

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The seasonal feeding ecology of the javan slow loris (nycticebus javanicus)

Cited by 82 publications

References 81 publications

Nutrient-based diet modifications impact on the gut microbiome of the Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus)

Nutrient-based diet modifications impact on the gut microbiome of the Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus)

Trialling nutrient recommendations for slow lorises (Nycticebus spp.) based on wild feeding ecology

Chimpanzee feeding ecology and fallback food use in the montane forest of Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda

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