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TRAFFIC
This slow loris was found for sale at an outdoor market in Bogor, Indonesia.
A rare primate from Indonesia sought by some as an exotic pet is still being sold publicly even though that's illegal, a wildlife monitoring group reported Tuesday.
Dozens of slow lorises were seen for sale over the last two weeks in animal markets, shopping malls and even a wildlife exhibition ostensibly held to raise awareness about Indonesia's rich biodiversity, TRAFFIC said in a statement.
"Ranking high on the cute-and-cuddly scale, slow lorises have long been in demand as exotic pets," added TRAFFIC, which is funded by the conservation group WWF and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
While not well known, slow lorises did get some attention in 2009 when a YouTube video of one being tickled went viral -- opening a brief window where conservation groups campaigned to protect the species, which are slow-moving, nocturnal by nature and usually stay in tree tops far from humans.
But since then, little has improved for the furry animal with large eyes.
"Authorities need to clean up these markets and Indonesia’s reputation as a major center of illegal wildlife trade," said Chris Shepherd, deputy regional director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.
"The openness of the slow loris trade highlights the fact that having one of the region’s best wildlife protection laws and promising to protect species is not enough -- there must be stronger enforcement in Indonesia and the public should stop supporting the illegal wildlife trade," he added.
Slow lorises are also found in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, but their populations have declined due to harvesting for the pet trade and habitat loss, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
TRAFFIC
This slow loris was for sale at a market in Jakarta, Indonesia.
"The teeth are often pulled, resulting in infection and/or death," the IUCN says of those lorises sold as pets. "If animals survive, lack of teeth makes reintroduction (to the wild) impossible."
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Enforcement in Indonesia is one thing, but how about going after the people who are buying these animals? There's one person in the video attached to the article they could go after right now.
Well I can definitely see why people would try to get one. They are super cute and entertaining!
If they would show the other video of a Slow Loris going into a berserk ape rampage on its human handler, fewer people would want to own one. Pretty sure I saw one of those things lift and throw a small car at someone in the last Planet of the Apes movie. I bet the people responsible for the youtube sensation "Dramatic Prairy Dog" could have some fun with this.
Four words: Outbreak. No thank you.
What kind of sadistic SOB would pull out an animals teeth!!! That is beyond cruel. Why can't people just leave these animals where they belong - in the wild. Yes they are cute and cuddly looking, but they are wild animals, not house pets. There needs to be very strict enforcement and harsh penalties for both the sellers and the buyers of these exotic animals. After all, without the buyers the sellers would have no reason to take these animals from the wild to start with.
so ugly primates need not apply?
Such a shame, to take a free animal and place it in captivity.
Unless in the farming and ranching business, people should only be allowed to keep the traditional cat-dog-bird-fish pets. This could and should be strictly enforced until a grip is attained upon the shelter problem in this country, and permanently in downtown city areas. Shelters kill thousands of animals a month.
Most of those thousands of dead pets are cats and dogs. The illegal pet trade has little influence on the number of shelter animals, not like the lack of neutering and spaying does.
We'd have to give up the sensational news stories from Ohio of police shooting lions and tigers in order to protect the citizens or of the lady who had her face ripped off by a chimp.
That video is great! They are so cute! Where can I buy one?
what an inane and ignorant comment considering that theese animals live in trees and the criminals are pulling their teeth out so they can die by infection just to make you happy. really pathetic.
Slow lorises have a toxic bite. The toxin is produced by licking a gland on their arm, and the secretion mixes with its saliva to activate it.
Why in hell would you want one?
you are an ass
all i want is a direwolf.....and a kingslayer.
Now if ever there was a cause for PETA this is it.
What kind of sick person would take this animal out of its natural habitat and think that it would be happier to be someones pet?
I have always hated zoo's and putting animals in a cage, or keeping them as pets and believing that they really just love it, and are thankful for it, is arrogant, ignorant and just plain wrong.
don't bring home fruits and vegetables because they are living at one point and you are removing them from their natural habitat (the tree)
scir91onYouTube
what? Is this humor? Or are you equating an apple to a primate?
Are you suggesting bacteria deserve the same treatment as people? Both are alive.
I've seen some pretty dumbass coments on the vine before, but scirelnoa (whatever the hell your name is) I'm certain this post and your other post further down the page take the idiot of the day award!!
The argument that plants are living things...They have no central nervous system, no BRAIN. They do not feel pain and are incapable of thinking.
There is also a company called Pocket Pets that travel mall to mall selling sugar gliders (also called sugar bears). They claim they are not exotic animals but they are. There have been many reports of these animals dying from malnutrition shortly after purchase. They make horrible pets as well and are not the easy, fun animals the company claims them to be. People are spending hundreds of dollars on them as an impulse buy without knowing anything about them. Meanwhile, the owner of the company is raking in millions of dollars a year in his mansion in Cape Coral, FL.
Cute my )@(*.... delicious maybe... but not cute...
I find it weird when people show so much pride in selfishness and lack of empathy.
I live in an area of Florida that is water on 3 sides. I also live on a small inlet that occasionally houses alligators. Like some primates, one cannot domesticate alligators. I had a neighbor who used to go out in his backyard and throw chicken bones straight into the mouth of a 6ft alligator. He thought this alligator was his good buddy until Brooks (what he named the alligator) ate his poodle. He assumed, unwisely, that a wild animal or reptile knows the difference between a chicken bone and a pet....or an enemy.
They DON'T.
That was NOT the alligators fault.
Not unlike selling cute primates.
It's just wrong.
I wonder if the poodle tasted like chicken
Chicken poodle soup.
Poodles taste like kimchi.
What other purpose does this animal serve besides scratching! Tickle me ELMO?
why does the animal need to have a purpose? does it's purpose need your approval to be relevant? it's purpose is to live it's life as nature intended not to be a pet or captive in a zoo for entertainment.
Not only the sellers need to be prosecuted! Also the buyers must be prosecuted as well! Both of them deserve even real long time imprisonment and Interpol must be involved to find and reach them everywhere they are! If there are no buyers there will be no sellers! Just common sense!
Don't need jail time,just slAp them with a hefty fine!
@ studio steve:
Many of those that buy them, they don't care about the money... Only a jail time will teach them and others the consecuences... else they will never learn!
You're dead on. $5000 and loss of the animal would deter this. Must have some publicity and enforcement though.
or you could strap one on a Kardashian and everyone would be assured the were unfashionable.
The people who buy them should also face the consequences just as music downloaders have been targeted. This issue is far more important than music.
There little fingers are like humans how cute, BUT NOT a reason to have one in your home REMEMBER they are NOCTERNIAL so when U want to sleep they want to be up not a very good mix even hamisters for me are a problem because like CATS they are up at night. At least I can let my cat out at night to prowl but she knows to come back because she is a domesticated animal these things barely know what human's are....Just like my little sister, she got a sugar glider From Austriallia(poor little guy) she had it for a year or 2 before she gave it away because YES U guessed it it was NOCTERNIAL and screams all night long (they are calls but it sounds like screaming) stick with what we got and if U did have one what vet would help it if it was sick??? For once people think of another living thing before you think of YOURSELF yet again....
A vet trained & board certified in the treatment of exotic animals. I agree that these animals should not be sold or kept as pets. But just wanted to clarify this point. I know because I have parrots (who are not caged except when sleeping for the night) & have both a regular & an emergency vet who are so certified as well as certified individually for specific types of exotic animals including parrots. I see the strangest assortment of pet animals being brought in when I take one of my birds in for a check up. Of course, since these animals are exotic, the vet would seize the animal & notify the authorities.
To everyone who is keeping an exotic pet: I hope it rips your face off and eats you. It took millenia to domesticate dogs and cats. You think you can pluck something from the wild and integrate it into your family? Don't be a fool. Leave wild animals where they belong.
Well, if we start training and domesticating them now, then eventually we will be able to have them as pets. The sooner we start the better. Like you stated, even dogs, cats, horses, etc were wild at one point in time. With the destruction of their environment, soon the only place they'll have is the loving house of an owner. Get a clue.
you're an idiot.
Well, this is a two-edged sword, Kerry. Not every animal is appropriate for domestication & the capture of animals in the wild for the pet trade is 1) a big factor in the possible extinction, as far as existence in the wild, of some of those animals. Not all such extinctions are due to habitat encroachment. And 2) the trapping of such animals is more often than not, performed in a cruel & inhumane manner both during capture when many adults are slaughtered in the zeal to capture babies & even more of those captured babies killed by the stress of the whole event & the extreme crowding in unsanitary & terrifying conditions during 'storage' & transport. Death as well as the spread of disease is extremely common.
However, the legitimate breeding of certain types of animals in captivity is the only way to prevent their extinction due to the loss of their natural habitat or their numbers having dropped so low in the wild that there is little hope of their survival there. Some types of parrots, for example, are virtually extinct in the wild due to their their natural habitat being limited to a relatively small area that has been virtually destroyed by deforestation & other types of human encroachment.
I own one of such parrot because it has been found to breed so well in captivity that their numbers grew to the point where allowing them to be kept as pets was warranted &, fortunately, they have also been found to make an excellent & apparently very happy companion bird who enjoys & seeks out human interaction. But they would no longer exist on the planet regardless of whether due to loss of habitat or illegal trapping past or present. So it's definitely not a subject where blanket opinions are appropriate. As with most subjects, views & decisions should be based on the specifics of the case.
What an absolutely stupid and asinine comment, Kerry Nimrod!! Instead of training them to become our pets how about we STOP DESTROYING THEIR HABITAT!! YOU are the one who is in desperate need of any small part of a clue!!!
I've heard these cute primates really do BBQ fine on a pit and even taste a little like chicken. mmm mmm yummy. much better than Dog.
When have u ate Dog?
last time i ate chinese
I thought they only served cat....
Oh my goodness! Its the first step towards Planet of the Apes!!
Something much more horrible is going on in Indonesia right now--they are burning orangutans in their forests to clear land to produce palm oil. They have even put bounties on them! It will make you cry
Wait, if they want land in order to grow plants to produce palm oil shouldnt they burn the trees and foliage?
Ok these people are extremely stupid. How can anyone desire to have a monkey as a pet knowing full well that they have a tendency to literally rip peoples faces off but leave them alive!?
Lorises are small. Most likely only a nose or ear will be "ripped off", but if it's a slow loris, then hopefully you're quick enough to get out of the way. And they're cute!
What is truly horrible is the way these poor animals are "smuggled" into other countries. Birds, too.
People need to stop whining about how its wrong to hold free pets in captivity. FFS, you think every cat/dog/bird/fish shouldn't be held "captive"? Or is there some different logic im missing? If i had the opportunity to buy one i would, and i'd take damn good care of it, because i'd probably spend alot of money on it. So stafoo and quit your whining
Are cats, dogs, or many species of pet birds numbers threatened?? NO. Since this animals numbers ARE threatened then yes, that IS a problem!! Did you find your "missing logic" now??
Per your statement, the ONLY reason you'd take "damn good care of it" is because it would cost you a lot of money. So, if this animal, or any animal for that matter, didn't cost a lot of money then you'd treat it like crap?? Typical of someone who seems to have the 'its my god given right to do whatever the hell I want if I have the money to do it' or the 'its my pet and I'll treat it any damn way I want' mentality.
That woman is actually erotically satisfying that primate.
i am tired of this crap. make it elegal and anyone caught gets years in jail. stop this slap on the wrist stuff and give them some dam jail time! someone look out for the amimals for a change. why in the heck is it allowable for someone to have a tiger or other animals that we all know should be in the wild? why is there not laws preventing this crap???? sometimes i think scociaty are a bunch of morons.
So do I.
why not legalize poaching and control it ethically? it's hypocrisy to eat cows but feel sorry for these animals. makes no sense. especially tigers. i'd love to have a tiger rug and maybe a tiger blanket and some tiger teeth for a necklace. you can breed them just like cows, chickens, for a slaughter house where parts are sold off. it is being done ANYWAY.
Legalize poaching!!?? How freaking ignorant does a person have to be to suggest something so absolutely idiotic!!?? I guess as stupid as you seem to be for putting it on the internet for the entire world to see!! How about we legalize every drug being manufactured in some tent in the middle of the jungle since people are going to buy them anyway! How about burglary or auto-theft because somebodies house is going to be broken into or stolen anyway! Even better, we legalize murder since people have been killing each other since the dawn of time! They are ALL being done ANYWAY so why not!!??
I've got one better for you; I'd love to have your head on a plaque on my wall because there are still tribes in remote places that are head-hunters! It's hypocratic to feel sorry for someone who gets murdered, but hey, it's going to happen anyway!! Right?? Freaking MORON!!!