Doomdooma: A rare slow loris was injured after reportedly coming into contact with an electricity wire in Auguri Mamorni village near Lakhi Pathar Reserved Forest in Tinsukia district, drawing attention to the dangers faced by wildlife living close to human settlements.
The incident was reported on Friday within the Digboi Forest Division. The animal suffered an injury to one of its legs after coming into contact with an electrical connection in the village.
Wildlife conservationist Devajit Moran said unprotected power lines near forest areas can pose a significant risk to animals, particularly species that travel through trees and dense vegetation.
He said the problem could lead to serious injuries and even fatalities among rare wildlife species that encounter live wires while moving through their natural habitat.
Moran called on the government and Forest Department to work with electricity authorities to make power infrastructure in forest-adjacent villages safer for wildlife. He suggested replacing exposed lines with insulated or plastic-coated cables and introducing other protective measures wherever electricity routes overlap with animal movement corridors.
Slow lorises are nocturnal mammals that spend much of their lives in trees and rely on dense vegetation for movement and refuge. This makes them particularly vulnerable to electrical infrastructure installed near forest edges.
With forest habitats increasingly intersecting with villages, roads and other infrastructure, conservationists say reducing wildlife encounters with power lines should form part of broader measures to protect species moving between fragmented forest patches.
They have stressed the need to identify high-risk areas and introduce wildlife-sensitive electrical infrastructure to prevent similar incidents in the future.