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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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One of my co-workers, who was very ignorant, had one of these, told me how they need companionship because they can die easily or something like this. She would buy them for her kids when one would die. Sad.
Seems to me that the Slow Loris needs to evolve into a Fast Loris and run from humans.
OR, humans need to evolve into a better steward of the Earth so they'd realize they can't and shouldn't do whatever the hell they want with any part of nature just because they 'can'.
It will stop immediately when the penalty for humans caught selling or traffiking these wild creatures is to be confined in small cage and have all your teeth pulled out, end of story. Be serious and get serious.
The same goes for those in the shark finning industry!! Anyone gets caught finning sharks gets their arms cut off and thrown into the ocean to flail around until they sink out of sight! In other words, they suffer the same fate and agony the sharks have to endure!
sorry, I see no problem with having these animals as pets. No different than dogs. Excuse the lack of political correctness.
Except for the fact that they're wild animals and are NOT domesticated, like dogs and do not belong in our houses. Ripping a wild animal out of its natural habitat so that you can cuddle and play with it is selfish and wrong.
OR, the fact these animals numbers have been drastically reduced for several reasons, as stated in the article, whereas dogs numbers are in no way in jeopardy.
Based off your other posts listed on your personal page, I suppose, Laureen, you think it's your 'god given right' to own whatever animal you desire as a pet?? I got news for you, NO YOU DON'T have a right to own any animal you desire no matter who/what you think that right comes from.
Garrett I don't know about Laureen . But your statement about god given rights holds very true .. Consider for the last 8000 years or so that man was given domination over the entire planet thanks to god . The culture that rose from the fertile crescent took this to heart . Ours is the only culture that seeks extermination of anything that gets in the way of its production . Man lived 200 thousand years without this god given right . We must ask ourselves at the rate of destruction this culture produces how long will this civilized culture last ?
I live close to the Boarder, You can get anything you want, The only way to stop this is to have a boarder LOL. People come across, Drugs, Animals, America has the safest boarder's ?, never!!!!! what can I get for you ?
Not cool...
Whether lowrises, rhino horns, tigers, any exotic endangered or almost endangered animal, the world MUST start to pressure governments to crack down on these horrible actions. IF that doesn't work, economic sanctions work. It is disgusting to see how people abuse these marvelous creatures for whimsy, for misguided archaic beliefs of increased sexual prowess, super powers or whatever. They belong in the wild and left alone. It is amazing how cruel people can be to helpless defenseless creatures pulling teeth, declawing, doing whatever they can to make them "Safe" only to find out a wild creature is still wild or sadly dies as a result of their actions...
The comical or rather sad theft of Rhinoceros horns exhibited in the British Museum of Natural History, for the purposes of being sold on the Asian market as an aphrodisiac being literally as valuable as gold, turned out to be replicas of the real horns, which were in a more secure location. Bet those bandits got what they deserved, when they attempted to sell them as the real thing. Sometimes justice is sweet.
Wildlife stats should be seriously reconsidered with more accurate ratings. This story failed to mention the CITES appendix (which is appendix I). Appendix I animals are the most protected species, which the slow loris is.
Other misconceptions are wide spread commonly by groups such as WWF and PETA. Appendix II and III species are those not necessarily endangered by any means, but controlled trade is still enforced sometimes due to their popularity in trade running the risk of creating a demand for their products.
Elephants have been off the the critical endangered list for some time now, and populations are over 600,000 by reliable estimates and hunting is legal in many areas, but at a high price, and in strict limitations of numbers harvested. The ivory, on those listed as exportable, may be legally imported as well. However, if one watches only Animal Planet and listens to the media, they would have everyone believe that all harvesting is illegal, and only done by poachers. They were also recently cited as claiming elephants as gentle creatures who never cause harm to humans, despite over 500 deaths each year and being rated as in the top 5 of dangerous game in Africa.
Truth in this instance is that the legalized and controlled conservative hunts, bought for ridiculous amounts, is able to provide for conservation efforts to insure programs are significantly funded so populations continue to increase in some areas, and given an elephants nature, they cause much destruction to other game's habitat.
In the case of the slow loris, the pet trade is to blame, for the continued market for their purchase illegally. However, other so-called "reliable sources" usually associated with the media, are often guilty of spreading mis-information regarding the actual populations left in the wild, and the realistic portrayal of laws associated with them. The truth provides much better results when conservation is critically needed. And sometimes history of species conservation has taught us that captive breeding programs (not pets) are often the only way to insure a species survival in a world with so many who do not care.
Realistic evaluations of populations, range, ratio of males to females, availability of food, and the demand in the market, and local cultures for such animals must be carefully weighed in, if conservation efforts are to be of any use, and the realization of captive breeding being necessary are to be determined. Simply putting out false info (in many cases but not this one) and putting their pictures on calendars is not good enough.
Can any of them talk?
Cute and cuddly???? Those are about the ugliest things I've ever set eyes on. I'd rather have a dog!
Hey idiot elephjant guy.
Just so you know the approx. 500 deaths are mostly due to people working with the elephants and more than likely abusing them and people walking up on rogue elephants knowing that they should not. I would say 499 of those deaths are due to the stupidity of people.
Just like mountain gorillas the asians think that the hands make some kind of potion for better sex. Same with rhino horns and other parts of other exotic animals. For whatever reason the Asians seem to think that aalmost anything make them more "big man". So they pay whatever they have to just so they can "man up".
Anyway we will not be happy until we destroy this planet and the living things on it!
And you have so much experience with elephants right? Stupidity around an elephant means allowing him to smell you or see you, becomes sometimes that is all it takes to tick one off. So yes indeed, 499 deaths are from slow natives. They are considered some of the most dangerous animals to hunt, especially on the savanna. Many are also short tempered from being shot at and injured, or even stepping on land mines and injuring themselves. Having gone after injured Elephants, I can tell you the danger is very real, and the only effective target on a charging bull is a tricky shot even for professionals. The only animal I consider more dangerous in Africa is the Lion, for many reasons. The poachers, however, are MORE dangerous than any other animal in the bush, and luckily enough i is always open season if you see a poacher.
I agree 100% about the Asian (and other ) market places. Anything and everything is available if the money is right. The Asians are buying up all of the poacher's ivory from Africa, because they poached away their own Asian variety........Which is by the way very endangered, in the wild at least, pretty common in captivity.
I can't imagine why anyone would want to have a primate as a pet. To me it would be like keeping a dwarf, with some bizarre body hair problem & a tragic mental disability, in a cage for fun.
This is a world of instant gratification. Never mind taking away an animal several thousands of miles a away from their mother / family / habitat, but let's cater to the snot runny kid's that stomp,scream, and kick into getting what they want.
When I was growing up and pulled this crap...Katy bar the door. And the I'll hold my breath until I turn blue or die.... how did this work for our generation ?
What kills me is the parents who know better, been there, and gone through it, but still whip out the $$$ for something that will end up dying.
A market that shouldn't have been started in the first place, but we have to continue to wipe the kid's asses into their 30's and they still come back.
I call it a @!$%# MAGNET !
The bottom line is this: The trade in illegal wildlife is one of the significant contributing factors behind the present mass extinction crises. In the next 24 hours the world human population will add an additional 285,000 people while during this same time period 27 animal and plant species will be driven extinct. How much further into the future can this imbalance continue before we utterly destroy the planet's life support system?
Nice and ,unfortunately, a very sad post, Frank. It simply astounds me how people think because the planet is relatively large we can't/don't have any impact on it what-so-ever. This 'it doesn't effect me personally so I'm going to do whatever the hell I want' attitude has GOT TO STOP!!!
Way to get the word out on how cute, cuddly, and accessible these are MSNBC!
When cooked right they are absolutely delicious!!!! On many surf trips to Bali we
would stop at one of the road side food stands and eat lorise meat in flat bread.
Deep fried with a yogurt/lime/red chili sauce, pretty damn good!! The way I like best is
to marinate the lorise meat in coca cola, (has to be the coca cola with sugar cane) overnight then cooked over an open indirect flame "low and slow" sooo sooo good!!!! the meat falls off the bone and melts in your mouth! Man Im missing Bali right now.
Being such close relative of humans - i think by eating monkeys you are getting a glimps of what humans would taste like if cooked.
Monkeys being such close relative of us can easily pass
deadly diseases to people “aka” AIDS, or other yet unknown viruses. I think
they are best left out in the wild or the zoos.
I know in Florida, people buy python snakes, lizards, all kinds of "exotic" fair, then let them go. They just dump them into canals, the everglades, any place. The effect is very dramatic. These animals thrive and help wipe out the native populations. I do not understand why people must have animals that were never meant to be pets. It's not "cool" or "rich" to do so. It's often dangerous, and tragic for people and the target breed.
kerry norton,
we can only hope that @!$%#s like you go extinct, and soon.
humans are not content with just polluting and destroying the natural world. we need to wear its pretty little things around our neck, alive or dead, to reinforce our superiority.
scir91onyoutube, morons like you need to be shot, ground up, and fed to the hogs.