Chennai, Oct 12 (IANS): The Slender Loris sanctuary, the establishment of which was notified by the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday, will be the first of its kind in the country.

The Kadavur Slender Loris Sanctuary is to come up at 11,806 hectares in Karur and Dindigul districts, covering areas of Vedasandur, Dindigul East, and Natham taluks in Dindigul and Kadavur taluk in Karur.

The state government notified the establishment of the Kadavur Slender Loris sanctuary under Section 26 A(1)(b) of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Slender Loris are small nocturnal mammals that generally live in trees and are arboreal in nature. They are listed as an endangered species by the International Union For Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

State Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change, and Forests, Supriya Sahu, in a statement, said that the survival of the species depends on its habitat improvement conservation efforts and mitigation of threats.

The DMK government had announced the establishment of India's first Slender Loris sanctuary in the state in the Assembly in April this year.

The Tamil Nadu government has notified India's first Dugong Conservation Reserve in Palk Bay, the Kazhuveli Bird Sanctuary in Villupuram , the Nanjarayan Tank Birds sanctuary in Tiruppur, and the fifth elephant reserve at Agasthyamalai in Tirunelveli district.

Sahu in the statement said that 13 wetlands in the state were also notified as Ramsar sites.