CICASP | Center for International Collaboration and Advanced Studies in Primatology

Our guest in this installment of The PrimateCast is Dr. Anna Nekaris, the world's foremost authority on one of the world's least known primates: the slow loris, or as she likes to call it, the Little Fireface.

"A venomous primate, that's ridiculous"

In the interview, Dr. Nekaris talks about how she seeks to understand why a primate has evolved venom, placing it in small company to which only a handful of other mammals belong. She also discusses why we need to be concerned about the illegal pet trade and slow loris conservation, and how telling people about their venomous ways might help. We conclude the interview talking about her conservation and outreach program, The Little Fireface Project, and how they are both battling and exploiting social media to combat the pet trade that is threatening this group of primates across their range.

Anna Nekaris is Professor of Anthropology and Course leader for the acclaimed MSc in Primate Conservation at Oxford Brookes University. She also happens to be co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Folia Primatologica, the official journal of the European Federation for Primatology.

Join us and Dr. Anna Nekaris on The PrimateCast, and visit our official webpage @ theprimatecast.com to find loads of content from primatologists and conservationists around the world. You can also visit (and Like/Follow) us on Facebook and Twitter and leave comments and feedback on this or any other podcast in the series. You can also follow our RSS feed, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes to keep up with the latest content.

Photo Credit: Anna Nekaris / The Little Fireface Project