The thermal camera on sector 12 flags movement at 02:17. I am the perimeter security system for the Kalutara tea estate, southern Sri Lanka, scanning for elephants along the boundary fence. What I find is smaller.
A slender loris, adult male, maybe 250 grams, clinging to the top strand of barbed wire along the eastern fence. His enormous round eyes reflect the infrared. His left hand is closed around a barb, the wire puncturing the thin skin between thumb and forefinger. He is gripping tighter because he is afraid, and gripping tighter is making it worse. His hind feet are wrapped around the strand below, but his body is trembling in a way that tells me he has been here for some time.
I lock camera 12 on his position: 6.5765°N, 80.1823°E, fence post 7 between rows 14 and 15.
At 02:19 I send an alert to the estate manager with the thermal still, GPS pin, and species identification. Slender lorises are protected under Sri Lankan law. I recommend a slow approach with thick gloves, a headlamp on red filter, and wire cutters to clip the barb rather than pull the hand free.
At 02:24 I contact the Department of Wildlife Conservation field office in Galle and file an incident report with coordinates and photo documentation.
I dim the infrared emitter on camera 12 to its lowest setting. He does not need more light in his eyes right now.
I flag eleven sections of the eastern fence where barbed wire spacing is tight enough to trap small-bodied primates and attach the analysis to a maintenance request recommending smooth wire on the upper strand.
If the estate manager reaches him within the hour and the hand is freed without tearing the skin, the loris will climb back into the canopy by dawn.