Improving diet and activity of insectivorous primates in captivity: Naturalizing the diet of Northern Ceylon gray slender loris, Loris lydekkerianus nordicus

Data on in‐situ diet and nutritional requirements should inform the provision of food to captive insectivorous primates. Despite the growing availability of such information an over‐reliance on commercially available primate foods and fruit continues in many captive establishments. Wild slender lorises are almost exclusively insectivorous, yet captive conspecifics are fed a primarily frugivorous diet that is likely to contribute to behavioral and health problems. We investigated the effect of naturalizing diet in the Northern Ceylon grey slender loris (Loris lydekkerianus nordicus) by providing live insect prey to a captive group of five individuals. We calculated activity budgets in accordance with six established categories and recorded positional behaviors. We collected data over 30 hours for each of three conditions: pre‐enrichment, enrichment, post‐enrichment. We hypothesized that increased opportunity for the display of natural behaviors would be stimulated by the dietary enrichment of live insects and made the following predictions; 1) Percentage time spent foraging would increase and time spent inactive would decrease; 2) behavioral repertoires would increase; 3) foraging patterns would be more constant over time with reduced feeding‐time peaks. We analyzed time budget and behavioral changes using Friedman tests. We found significant changes in activity budgets with inactivity reduced and foraging levels increased to levels seen in wild slender lorises. We found a significant increase in postures used in foraging and a wider behavioral repertoire. We discuss the benefits of providing free‐ranging live food in relation to enhancing the temporal‐spatial distribution of food acquisition, satisfying nutritional requirements, balancing energy intake, and expenditure, expanding sensory stimulation, and promoting behavioral competence. We discuss our findings in relation to other insectivorous primates. Zoo Biol. 34:473–482, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.