The Slow Loris is an Illegal Pet

The slow loris is a primate that has gained attention through a few YouTube videos.  As so often happens when "cute animal" videos come out, somebody insists they want to obtain that animal as a pet.  The slow loris, however, should not be kept as a pet. 

Slow loris are native to southeast Asia where it is illegal to capture them from the wild; owning them, and selling them, is also illegal.   Many slow loris are poached from the wild for the purpose of resale in bird and pet markets, or are shipped to other countries for sale in pet stores.  In these stores they are often listed as being "captive bred" however this is usually not the case, but nearly impossible to prove.  Even if they were captive bred, the parent animals were stolen illegally from the wild.



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The real cruelty is the fact that slow loris are put at risk by having their teeth pulled, or cut, before they become part of the exotic pet trade.  If rescued from markets they cannot be returned to the wild because without teeth survival is difficult.

The slow loris has a poisonous bite.  To deal with this the poachers will cut their teeth with pliers or nail clippers, or yank them out.  Veterinarians are not involved because aiding the poachers would be illegal.  The poor little animals are given no pain killers, and nothing to fight infection.  Many slow loris stop eating as a result of the pain, or die from infection.  There is no way of knowing just how many slow loris die, but estimates suggest that many get infections which are often fatal and others die of stress or malnutrition.

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Make no mistake, the slow loris, although cute, should not be part of the exotic pet trade. If you happen to see a slow loris for sale in an illegal pet market, DO NOT buy it, this only rewards the seller.  Rather you are suggested to call police or other animal welfare authorities, who will take the animal and place it in a rescue.  This hurts the seller and hopefully they will stop their involvement in the cruel trade of this beautiful animal.

Please read more about the Slow Loris .