veegannn:

We have probably all seen this adorable video of the slow loris being tickled or even this one of a slow loris holding a tiny umbrella, but these seemingly innocent videos are actually the result of incredible amounts of animal cruelty.

The Slow Loris is a nocturnal primate from Southeast Asia but thanks to the millions of hits on youtube, slow lorises have become a “must have pet” and are being plucked from their natural habitat and sold for upto £3,500 ($5,500US)Now you would be lucky to see a slow loris in the wild, these beautiful creatures are endangered. 
If this wasn’t bad enough, what these people do to these animals before they are “pet-ready” is so much worse.

slow lorises have a toxic bite, and because of this before they are sold they have their teeth ripped out with pilars or nail clippers so that they don’t cause damage to their “owners”.

This horrible process often causes infection and slow and painful deaths to the lorises.

They are also NOCTURNAL animals, which is why in the videos they are not just being “cute” these animals are disoriented and BLINDED by the bright light.These harmless little animals suffer terrible stress from exposure to the sunlight at these markets where they are dumped in cramped cages. These timid creatures normally move about quietly in the darkness of the night. 
‘The markets, where they are surrounded by other animals and people, are a nightmare for them. Tragically, many of them die from trauma even before they have been sold.

although there is a global high protection order under the endangered species conventions, that doesn’t stop them being adbucted and sold on the black market.
Few to no lorises can be found in the wild today, suggesting that the illegal trade may be the cause of the population decline. They are now feared to be on the verge of extinction, which is very serious
all because people want to keep these guys as pets. 

When will people learn to just leave animals in the wild, why is there such an obsession with “owning” exotic pets. Your greed and selfishness has put so many animals on the verge of inexistance. You have no right to steal someone from their home and MUTILATE their body, cause them stress and even death all because you want a cute little pet.

see these articles for more information:
Do popular viral videos depict animal abuse 
Killer Cuteness 

please share this post, it might not be too late for these little guys.
also sign this petition to get the videos removed from youtube 

(via allcreatures)

biomedicalephemera:

Relevant to this recent post on endangered lorises.

C’mon, people. Don’t be stupid. Dried testicles of lorises, stewed tiger penis, and cobra blood drank straight up are not going to make you any more virile, strong, or healthy. If anything, it’ll make you LESS virile, because what the fuck, YOU JUST ATE A TIGER PENIS, who in their right mind would get with you or even talk to you?!

Leave our wild buddies in the wild, and go work out for a while, or eat a hearty salad, or ANYTHING that doesn’t involve the genitalia of wild animals. I promise it’ll do you way more good than dried testicles.

Look at this guy. He’s happy in the wild. He DOES NOT WANT TO BE IN YOUR PANTS.

biomedicalephemera:

Faces of Lorises

1. Nycticebus tardigradus malayanus (Nycticebus coucang spp.- Sunda slow loris. Note: possibly Nycticebus javanicus - the Javan slow loris)
2. Nycticebus tardigradus hilleri (Nycticebus coucang coucang - the Sunda slow loris, type species)
3. Loris gracilis typicus (Loris lydekkerianus lydekkerianus - Gray slender loris)
4. Loris gracilis zeylanicus (Loris tardigradus - Red slender loris)

All lorises are endangered or vulnerable due to the pet trade and their use in traditional “medicine”. While these small and nocturnal critters tend to be much more adaptable when humans encroach upon their habitat than other species of primate (making due in the trees humans transplant as opposed to their native foliage, and dealing with the human presence in stride, for example), they’re still all too often thought to “cure” various ailments with their body parts (especially the slow lorises), and traded as pets throughout their native habitat of Southeast Asia, and when they’re successfully smuggled to the rest of the world.

Seriously, people. Their cuteness is so much cuter in the wild. Lorises are freaking adorable, and the hunting strategies of the various species and subspecies are so varied and fascinating that they deserve to stay in a protected natural habitat. I mean, among other reasons to preserve them, obviously…they’re just such cool little omnivores!

Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1904.

ermantrude:

Two night dwellers - The  Slow loris and the Oriental bay owl

The Slow loris or ‘Malu malu’ as it is called Indonesia translates as ‘shy one’ - when spotted it will freeze and cover its face. They are under threat due to habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. In the east, there are deep routed beliefs that the Slow loris has super natural powers, which can ward off evil spirits and the power to cure wounds and illnesses.

The Bengal Slow Loris - Nycticebus bengalensis (labeled Nycticebus cinereus, a junior synonym)

Slow Loris - Nycticebus tardigradus Lin.

Unfortunately Slow Lorises are severely threatened by the pet trade. Because of capture for sale they have disappeared from any areas where they used to be common.

Lorises do not make good pets as they are venomous and so have to have their teeth removed before they are sold. This usually done in a very cruel way and the remains of the teeth often decay leading to a fatal infection.

World’s only venomous primate ‘under threat from pet trade’

Saving the slow loris

Tickling slow loris - the truth

The pygmy slow loris (Nycticebus pygmaeus)

“On a Collection of Mammals made by Dr. Vassal in Annam”. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 77 (1): 3–11. Illustrator: Herbert Goodchild

Slow Lorises

From: ‘Iconographia Zoologica: een papieren dierenrijk’

Muscular variations - the Common Marmoset (Hapale jacchus) and the Sunda slow loris (Nycticebus tardigradus)

unnaturalist:

slow loris

A watercolour from the John Reeves collection

(via fullbloom)