Primitive primates indigenous to Southeast Asia, Slow Lorises are endangered and absurdly adorable. Most importantly, they just so happen to be this editor,Aeos favorite animal since early childhood. However, it wouldn,Aeot take a childhood obsession to be appalled at the horrors of the illegal loris trade.
Prized for their cuddliness, slow lorises are sold in Japan as impulse-buy pets like puppies. But the process of getting them to Japan is fraught with misery for the animals. Baby lorises are the most valuable, but unable to care for themselves. They cannot defecate without assistance from their parents and this causes great pain and unclean fur that results in infection. However, adults fair no better as smugglers have been known to pull out the adults,Aeo teeth so the animals appear younger than their actual age. Lorises have very sensitive hands and feet and when they are pulled from their cages, it frequently cuts open their skin.
Even worse fates are in store for many lorises that do not make it to the boat, as ,Aeuloris wine,Aeu is prized in Cambodia as an anesthetic to help with the pains of childbirth. It takes three smoked lorises to make an effective loris wine. Honestly, is there any endangered animal that people don,Aeot drink, smoke, snort or inject over there? Have these people heard of aspirin? The Cambodian government has just pushed through a ban on the trade in slow lorises, although it is unclear how well it can be enforced. About 700 animals were recovered last year between and Japan last year, but estimates are that only about 10% of illegal animals are recovered. If anyone is interested in starting a Slow Loris conservation fund, please contact us.
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Hi. I was just looking at your slow loris pictures and read about what people use them for...so sad. I don't have any money really, but I'd love to do anything I could to help start a conservation fund if there isn't one yet. I live in Utah (USA), and could probably get the zoo here (Hogle Zoo) in Salt Lake City to have fundraisers or start a conservation fund themselves. Let me know if I can help. I actually saw a slow loris when I was at the zoo in Vietnam. I couldn't really tell what it looked like because it was sleeping in its house...I couldn't see the face, but it still looked so cute that I wrote the name of the animal down and that's why I was able to look up these pics to see what they look like. The truly are adorable! Thanks for the information...let me know if I can help. Deanna
Posted by: Deanna Terry | November 7, 2008 2:14 AM